102 - 107

Chapter 102

Trap

Currently, Lorist was standing on top of the outer, less fortified wall and looking towards the plains in the far distance.

Now that they had everything in place, they only had to wait. As long as they manage to trick the escort of the shipment hired by the Kenmays Family into the valley beyond the wall, Lorist was confident that he would be able to make the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew surrender and let him take over whatever resource they brought along the way. He believed that when the resources that the Kenmays Family had painstakingly shipped over fell into his hands, Viscount Kenmays and his father, the Kenmays family head, would definitely be wearing amusing expressions.

At dawn yesterday, Patt brought over 20 of the surrendered mercenaries back to the construction site. After having their afternoon meal, the 20 mercenaries went to get some rest while Patt reported what had happened during his visit to Poplar Coast to Lorist.

According to him, when he made his way to the coast, his announcement of Lorist's intentions had caused an uproar among the mercenaries stationed there. One of the mercenary leaders, Hausky, argued that an act like that violated the basic etiquette mercenaries should have, but his men had all been swayed by the lavish pay of participating in that mission and scrambled to join in. After hours of debate, they finally settled on 19 people who had been picked by a ballot who were joined by the vice leader, Jim, before they rushed back to the site.

Lorist breathed a sigh of relief as it seemed that there would no longer be a problem on the side of the mercenaries. It's no wonder that the mercenaries would cooperate with that plan. Given that most of them were rather poor, the payment of ten gold Foredes was more than enough for them to settle down for a peaceful life. And all they had to do was to chat and wave to their fellow mercenaries to lure them beyond the walls.

The slave laborers had all stopped working outside the walls and were sent away by Telesti to collect more building materials such as sand, stones and clay. Only 200 of the more common laborers continued to clean up trash around the site so that they may aid with moving the stuff that would come with the shipment later.

Naturally, the convoy that had come along with Lorist to the construction site as well as the people Lorist brought over from Wildnorth Town had all retreated to a camp beyond the inner walls that faced the Norton Family dominion so that they would leave no trace on the outside of the construction site where the shipment and its escort would arrive at, lest they trigger the suspicion of the leader of the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew. He also had Jim doublecheck everything just in case he missed anything out.

Jim circled the area for a bit before he returned with a suggestion: Lorist should have the soldiers who wore metal armor to go into hiding as mercenaries are commonly poor folk who wouldn't be able to afford something like that. If three of such soldiers were to be discovered, Crew Leader Adams would easily notice the disparity.

The flag that was being flown at the construction site currently bore the Kenmays Family's three-ringed insignia and on the walls were 12 ballistas which were covered with a waterproof green cloth to prevent them from being discovered.

At that moment, Josk was currently standing at one of the crenels[1] of the walls equipped poorly with leather armor while chewing a dried grass stalk within his mouth. His main task for the day was to watch the area from the walls to make sure that not a single person escapes after the escort is drawn into the construction site.

Lorist was also equipped with a grey leather armor himself and he was playing the role of the personal attendant of Butler Boris. He would also be accompanying him to receive and greet the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew to complete the transaction.

"Don't be so nervous," Lorist said to Boris. "We're extremely well-prepared and they will definitely not notice anything amiss. You only have to act as you usually do. Isn't it as easy as luring them inside and having some smalltalk with the leader of the mercenary crew? After you're done, you can retreat somewhere so we can take over. Be assured that I will guarantee your safety."

Lorist's opinion of that old butler was a good one in that he was a capable person that handled most of what he was instructed without trouble and was a talent in human resource management and administration. The only flaw he had was that he was extremely fearful for his own life. If the opposite was the case, there was no way that he would surrender to Lorist's forces so easily and work so earnestly for him in the first place.

"Butler Boris, after this operation, I will send some people to the Redriver Valley Bastide to save your family members. That is my promise to you in the name of the dominion lord," said Lorist seriously towards the butler.

"Milord, thank you... Thank you. I will definitely do my best to play my part," said Boris thankfully to the point of tears.

...

At around ten in the morning, two mercenaries of the crew came on horseback from the convoy before the rest to check on the situation. One of the horsemen was an acquaintance of Jim, thus they chatted for quite a bit before they mentioned that the convoy would take another two hours to arrive and requested the people at the construction site to prepare food and drinks for them. After refusing an offer from some of the mercenaries stationed at the walls to rest up first before the convoy arrived, the horsemen rode back to join the rest of them.

The slow and tormenting wait slowly passed as the sun gradually rose to its highest point in the skies with clouds of dust building up from the approaching convoy in the distance.

In another half an hour the Kenmays Family shipment convoy could be seen with tens of men on horseback wearing helmets decorated with white goose feathers riding over more quickly towards the gates of the walls. They stopped at a distance from the gates and got off their mounts before they all started to call out.

"Where are you guys?"

"I'm so worn out!"

"I want water..."

Reidy went forward with a few other guard squad members who were masquerading as slave laborers to quickly help the mercenaries with their mounts. Reidy pointed towards the tables and chairs which were set up beside the tents and said, "Fellow gentlemen, please head over there to enjoy some smoked and grilled meat, wheat porridge and meat and potato stew. Butler Boris even ordered us to prepare a few barrels of ale for your enjoyment. If you are tired, you can also rest in the tents and please don't hesitate to tell us if any of you want to take a bath. We can get the hot water prepared right away..."

One of the Feathersoar mercenaries said in surprise, "Wow, your chief manager really thought this out well. I say, apart from the lack of women, you are almost like an inn already..."

Another mercenary said, "Come on, what are you still waiting for? Instead of talking idly like that, why don't you go get yourself some ale before the rest finish it before us?"

That's great, thought Lorist as he looked at the men who were led towards the tents by Reidy. So far, everything was under control and the mercenaries that had arrived early didn't notice anything suspicious and didn't know any better.

The rest of the shipment convoy finally arrived and when they were about 300 meters from the walls, a group of around 100 Feathersoar mercenaries departed from the convoy and arrived at the walls where they got into formation. A middle-aged man wearing a chain mail underneath a layer of leather armor and a cape walked towards the wall gates with two other attendants following behind him.

When the leader of the mercenaries saw Jim standing by the wall, he called out loudly, "Hehe, if it isn't Razoraxe Jim! Where's Hausky?"

"The boss is at the other wall all the way at the other side of the valley. He went there right after he heard that you were coming. You know how he feels about the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew, right?" Jim said casually. He then asked, "What are you doing? Get in! Butler Boris spared no effort in preparing the food and ale for you guys! The rest are already enjoying it as we speak! Darn it, if only it wasn't my shift today... Maybe I'll go sneak a few drinks myself..."

"Then how about if I bring a barrel up to the walls to drink with you later?" Adams asked.

Jim started laughing out loud and said, "Then you better be quick! Don't just bring ale, get me some food too..."

At that moment, the other mercenaries beside Jim were greeting some other members of the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew as well.

"Oh, Jim, I heard that you suffered quite a loss at that family's bastide... Ah, the Nortons, was it?" asked Adams from beyond the wall.

"Tch, don't mention it anymore... We lost tens of people. But it was fortunate that only a few of my mercenaries were killed, mainly because we noticed the bad situation and didn't try too hard on our part. The farmer troops rallied by that viscount also lost 30 or so men. To be honest, the Norton Family bastide is really tough to take on. Why did you ask?" Jim asked.

"Hmm, us Feathersoars will later be stationed here. It's already been almost half a year since we started escorting shipment convoys, so it's about time we stopped for a while. During our shipment next month, the viscount's family's main force will also arrive and by that time, he will launch another assault on the Nortons and force them to submit," said Leader Adams as he nodded.

"The viscount's main force? It couldn't be those farmer troops, right? If that is the case, then the viscount might as well not make that attack and let them defend this place instead, lest they suffer even more losses," said Jim as he started laughing out loud.

"Nope, this time the Kenmays Family had spent quite some money at the royal capital to form a 2000 men unit over there which is mostly comprised of retired military officers and soldiers and they're also rather well-armed. By the time that army makes it back to the Northlands, the Kenmays Family will definitely be one of the top families in this area. Brother Jim, do your job properly and you may just be taken note of by the Kenmayses and be recruited into the ranks of their family knights. That way, you won't need to work as a mercenary anymore," suggested Adams.

Jim waved his hands and said, "Ptoooey! I would never want an opportunity like that. You know that I just loathe dealing with nobles like those. Nobles are all greedy bastards who take advantage of everyone that's weaker than them. To them, us mercenaries are nothing but lowly beasts who are willing to do their bidding for a little bit of their money. I, Razoraxe Jim, won't bend myself over and look at those nobles' expressions when I decide to do anything and is born for the life of a mercenary. As long as I'm able to earn some money to find a wife and raise a healthy child, I will die happy. Don't you think so, guys?"

The other mercenaries on the wall started laughing out loud and showed their fervent agreement. Some even said that one woman was not enough for Jim and suggested he find two...

Adams laughed out loud and said, "You darned bastards..."

...

Lorist and Butler Boris went down the walls to see Leader Adams.

"Crew Leader Adams, it must've been a tiring journey. There shouldn't be a problem with the cargo during the shipment, right?" Boris asked.

"Hehe, Butler Boris, good to see you. The cargo is in perfect condition, so don't worry. The reputation of my Feathersoar Mercenary Crew is nothing to laugh at and we won't secretly sneak some of the goods away like the third-rate crews out there. Here is the list of items in the shipment. Feel free to check if it's all in place," Adams said as he brought out a few beastskin documents.

"Hmm? Butler Boris, you don't look too well. Is there anything wrong?"

Lorist stepped forward and received the documents from Adams before he said, "Crew Leader Adams, Butler Boris was worried sick for the past few days about the safety of the shipment before its arrival. To be honest, we're only left with 3 to 4 days' worth of food. His worry had caused him to lose sleep and catch a cold. He's basically forcing himself to see you here. Look, he's already shivering a bit... I even asked him to take a rest before this but he wouldn't listen..."

"Oh, is that so? Butler Boris, you should really take better care of your body. Try not to get sick next time," said Adams as he stared at Lorist. "Then, who are you?"

Lorist had already been prepared for that question and saluted the mercenary leader before he said, "Crew Leader Adams, I am Locke and I used to be a mercenary myself. Butler Boris noticed my talents and picked me to be his personal attendant."

"Hmm, not bad. You must be a quick-witted person for you to be able to catch the attention of Boris. This is a great chance for you, so do your best and you will definitely have a bright future," said Adams as he nodded in praise at Lorist.

The rest of the convoy finally arrived and Boris said a little impatiently, "Leader Adams, I will go back into the walls first. You should let your men enter too. The food and tents are already prepared, so make sure to give them some proper rest."

Adams nodded and said, "Alright, I will bring them in right away..."

Boris left before Adams finished his sentence, and that matched his demeanor of not liking to deal with mercenaries perfectly, leaving Lorist behind with the list of items while Adams and his two attendants led the rest of the convoy past the walls.

At that moment, Adams and the hundreds other mercenaries had already went into the valley and the rest of the mercenaries who had dismounted were led by Reidy and his men into the tents to rest and have their meals. On the other hand, Adams and his two attendants stood by Lorist after they dismounted and chatted from time to time as they monitored the rest of the convoy as carriage after carriage flowed through the gates and lined up neatly at an empty space.

There were 400 carriages in total and it took two hours before all of them entered the valley. However, the presence of Adams and the other two attendants beside him made Lorist feel a little uncomfortable.

"Leader Adams, you should go to the tents to take a rest as well. There's no need for you to stand here personally. I'll notify you if anything happens," Lorist said as he tested the waters.

"There's no rush. The ones left outside is the rearguard comprised of my men. It won't be too late to rest when all of us are assembled," said Adams with a laugh.

Alright, then let's play the waiting game together then. Seeing the carriages filled with resources arranged neatly within the valley, Lorist gradually calmed down. There were only around 60 carriages left outside the valley and by the time all of them entered, the mercenaries would definitely all be near the tents. By then, he only had to give a single order to set the ambush in motion.

Right at that instant, a sudden ear-piercing cry rang out from within the valley. "Don't come in! You guys were tricked! They are the enemy! They are the Nortons' men!..."

[1] Crenels are openings on defensive structures that allow for ranged attackers to fire from behind the safety of a wall. See Wikipedia.

Melee Outbreak

Everyone present was stunned and unwittingly turned their heads towards the middle-aged man dressed in rags who was jumping up and down within the valley ahead.

"Isn't that… Grandmaster Ciroba?" stammered Adams.

It was indeed Grandmaster Ciroba… But wasn't he in confinement? Why would he appear on this hill? Would his cries and rambles cause Lorist's plan to fail?

Grandmaster Ciroba continued to scream with all his might. "They are the enemy! The men of the Norton Family! Why aren't you attacking? Eradicate them… Ugh…"

Ovidis who was equipped with metal armor came up behind the architect and knocked him out cold with the pommel of his sword, causing silence to return to the valley once again.

"Hehe… Hehehe…" chuckled Lorist. "Gosh… That Grandmaster Ciroba is showing symptoms of his, uh, sickness again… He never calms down if he doesn't get to scream like that…"

Adams looked at Lorist with a gaze of a hawk and said, "Is that so… But I don't think he looks like a sick person. Can you also explain who that man wearing the metal armor is? I don't think mercenaries can afford something like that…"

Adams ordered his two attendants, "Capture him."

Capture me your ass. Lorist backed away and instantly drew his sword. Since we've already been exposed, let's launch the ambush now. Most of the mercenaries have already entered the tents anyway… As for the remaining thirty or so mercenaries who are still outside the walls, given that Josk is up there on the walls watching, I doubt they would be able to escape. The people outside wouldn't know what was happening inside here anyway.

At that moment, most of the men of the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew had dismounted and were enjoying their meals. Some of them even went into the tents to take a short nap. Apart from Lorist, Adams and his two attendants, there were only seven to eight mercenaries who had just entered the valley and were still mounted, causing Lorist to not have any worry at all as he believed that he would easily be able to handle them.

As for Adams and his attendants, Lorist felt that they wouldn't even survive more than ten bouts in a fight with him, and that was after he had taken into consideration the two shield-wielding attendants who were usually more trouble to deal with.

At the empty space at the right corner of the valley were the carriages that had been driven into the valley. The coachmen of the carriages had parked them according to their types and untied the horses before bringing them to rest and feed. Lorist knew that those coachmen were the slaves of the Kenmays Family who had received formal training on coachmanship and were put in charge of transporting the Kenmays Family's goods.

Apart from the coachmen, each carriage also ferried 2 to 3 slave laborers which the Kenmays Family had sent over to increase the speed of the construction as well as to help out just in case any carriage met with any accidents during the shipment. As each carriage only had one coachman, should the carriage be damaged in the middle of the shipment, the slave laborers would be able to help out with the goods as opposed to having the coachman abandon the cargo.

Now that the horses had mostly been brought away for feeding, the slave laborers that came with the carriages slowly gathered into small groups and sat silently on the ground while waiting for the rest to gather together, as their food would only be served after that. Some of the laborers obtained the position from their managers and brought a few waterskins to the well beside the stable to temporarily quench their thirst.

While the coachmen and laborers was on Lorist's mind, he doubted that they would pose much of a threat as they weren't armed and probably wouldn't put their own lives at risk for the Kenmays Family. That was also with the case with the slave laborers who were already at the construction site when Lorist took over it: they didn't really care about the sudden change of who was in charge and continued to do their share of work as they usually would.

Lorist drew his sword, balled his left hand into a fist and lifted it high up in the air. That was the the signal for the beginning of the ambush.

A few of the guards on the walls noticed the signals and raised their horns to their mouth. A loud honking soon followed and resonated throughout the whole valley.

200 or so guards equipped with dual-layered metal armor appeared from deeper within the valley and surrounded the tents. Ten or so ballistas could also be seen being pushed up a hill in the distance. Combined with the ballistas that were hidden on the walls, there were around 20 of them which all had their aims trailed towards the tents with their lines of fire crossed.

Like Lorist had expected, the coachmen and slave laborers panicked for a bit before they settled down and some coachmen even continued to feed the horses like nothing was going on. However, some of them would turn their gaze over from time to time while the laborers who were sitting neatly in rows on the ground had their eyes opened wide with excitement as if a play was going to be enacted live in front of their eyes while they chatted away about the surprising developments that had just transpired and their anticipation of the battle to come.

"Just surrender and cease any futile resistance. Lay down your weapons and I will definitely treat you fairly," Lorist said as he slowly approached the two shield-bearer attendants.

"Who exactly are you?" Adams asked.

Lorist sidestepped to avoid entering the range of attack of the two shield-bearers and said, "I am Baron Norton, the Norton family head. If you surrender, on my name and title of the dominion lord, I will ensure your personal safety as well as your right to keep your belongings."

"Hahaha… Baron Norton, instead of saying that we've fallen into your trap, isn't the opposite the case with you right here at our fingertips? I really don't understand why you dared to show your face in front of me. Is it courage or just plain old idiocy? Go! Capture him so we can turn this whole situation around…" roared Adams with delight.

Wanna catch me? Think again. Since you don't want to do this the easy way, you shall pay for the consequences of your actions. Lorist dodged the shield charge of the shield-bearer on the left, swerved his body, and reappeared at the right flank of the shield-bearer, before his sword pierced towards his enemy's right lower rib like an agile snake…

Here we go, thought Lorist. After he dispatched this shield-bearer, he would only be left with two enemies who would easily be at his mercy.

Clang! A longsword was suddenly swung in front of the right chest of the shield-bearer and intercepted Lorist's sword. That sword had belonged to the shield-bearer on the right who had appeared before Lorist before anyone noticed. At that moment, the swords of both the shield-bearers shined bright gold as their blade glows materialized.

Sol! These two are Gold ranked shield-bearers! Lorist was stunned for a moment and thought, I didn't hear anything about the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew having any Gold ranked experts! And they're shield-bearers to boot! This will be troublesome.

However, Lorist did not mind it too much as he had already killed a couple of Gold ranked fighters in the past, so two more shouldn't pose too much of an issue for him. Even though his opponents were shield-bearers, they were only slightly better at defense than those Lorist had faced before and should probably require just a little more time for Lorist to handle them.

However, Lorist only got to know the true obstacle those two posed to be after fighting for a while: the two shield-bearers had extreme synergy and frequently alternated the attacking and defending roles. Even though the attacks were not much of a threat to Lorist, their defense was almost impregnable and managed to fend off most, if not all, of Lorist's strikes. During that period of time, Lorist had been entangled with the two shield-bearers and it would definitely take far more time before the victor could decided.

When the horns were blown, the outer part of the gates were spurred into total chaos.

The 30 or so Feathersoar mercenaries who felt that something was amiss instantly rushed towards the valley, but they were blocked by the carriages which were still on their way inside. The coachmen driving the carriages had panicked and left the carriages for a safe place to hide at. Without the coachmen, the horses had all huddled together and even caused a carriage to be flipped over, blocking the entire entrance. None of the mercenaries were able to find their way in given the situation.

Given Josk's understanding of Lorist's tenacity, he wasn't worried at all for his safety. Even though their trap had been partially-ruined by Grandmaster Ciroba, Josk still felt that nothing would go wrong given that Lorist was present. That's why he didn't pay any attention at all to whatever that was happening within the walls and believed that the mercenaries would surrender without much resistance. But what he didn't expect was that Lorist would be held down by the two Gold ranked shield-bearers.

Given that Lorist had not briefed Josk about the possibility of that situation happening, Josk decided to make sure that no one would be able to escape from the walls and called for the 30 or so mercenaries outside to surrender, dismount and discard their weapons.

However, none of them heeded his words with some even attempting to shoot Josk with their bows, only to be shot off their horses by Josk himself. In but a single moment, 7 mercenaries had already lost their lives, causing the remaining 20 or so to give up and surrender.

Lorist was still pestered by the two Gold ranked shield-bearers and couldn't be bothered to care about what was happening around him. On the other hand, Adams was secretly admiring Lorist's skill with a sword and believed that he had no way of besting him in single combat. He also didn't think that he would be able to help out in the battle between the three and gathered the 7 to 8 startled mercenaries who were still mounted to go aid their comrades near the tents.

The guards who were wearing double-layered metal armor had all awakened their Battle Force while those who wore only one layer had not. None of them had expected that Adams would attack them from the rear, given that the ballistas on the walls and a hill further away had the whole tent area covered and probably would've killed anyone who attempted to leave. Faced with Adams's sudden assault, the guards' formation crumbled within moments.

That was especially the case given Adams's Three Star Silver rank. As he brandished the sword in his hand which was covered with a silver blade glow, more and more enemies standing in his way were mowed down helplessly.

"Kill them all!" roared the mercenary leader.

All of a sudden, the 70-odd mercenaries within the tents armed themselves swiftly and rushed towards the guard soldiers that surrounded them.

"Fire!" shouted Ovidis from atop the hill. Ten gigantic ballista bolts were unleashed instantly, pinning down 8 mercenaries to the ground, causing most of them to die instantly with the rest writhing and crying in pain. Following that, the ballistas on the wall also fired and killed six other mercenaries near the tents.

But, the ballistas proved to be quite limited in its ability to turn the tide of battle as ally and enemy soon meshed together within the chaotic sea of people.

"To hell with this!" cursed Ovidis as he rushed down from the hill to join the fray.

Jim lifted his two-handed axe and started descending from the walls. One of the mercenaries near him noticed and asked, "What are you doing, Jim?"

Jim replied, "To help, dumbass! If the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew prevails, do you think we'll be spared?"

With the aid of the mercenaries on Lorist's side, the guard squad began to fare much better against the counterattack of the Feathersoar mercenaries.

Adams was forcing Patt into a defensive position when he noticed Jim join the battle. Enraged, he cursed out uncontrollably but Jim and the rest didn't pay him any heed and merely continued to take on the Feathersoar mercenaries.

Lorist was started to feel more and more annoyed at the clingy shield-bearers who troubled him to no end. In the beginning, they underestimated Lorist and fought at a more relaxed pace. But once they started to grasp his real strength, they changed their fighting style to full-on defense and focused their efforts on keeping Lorist occupied so that he wouldn't be able to aid his allies.

At that moment, Lorist was fighting with both his swords, but even with that, he had only managed to land a light wound on one of the shield-bearers which didn't even hamper him. Starting to feel restless, Lorist thought, I can't afford to be messing with them any longer. Here goes nothing!

Before, one of the shield-bearers rushed towards Lorist from behind while the other one slashed his sword in front of him, causing Lorist to be unable to retreat to the back and having to dodge the relentless sword strikes coming from the front. However, right now, Lorist had stopped all efforts to dodge and instead bumped into the shield behind him while unleashing his charged up internal energy, sending that shield-bearer 5 to 6 meters away into the distance. He then parried an incoming attack with the shortsword in his left hand before he turned his body to face the attacking shield-bearer head-on.

Seeing Lorist leap at him with crazed fervor, the shield-bearer raised his shield quickly in front of his body and believed that as long as Lorist was unable to get past his defense, he would be able to hold out until his partner comes to aid him out of this predicament.

However, infused to the brim with internal energy, Lorist's longsword pierced directly through that shield and penetrated the torso of the shield-bearer.

"Little Brother!" The shield-bearer who had been knocked away screamed out in agony and discarded his shield before he rushed straight forward with both his hands brandishing his longsword at Lorist.

Like a spinning top, Lorist spun his body and barely evaded the incoming attack as he didn't have the time to draw his longsword from the body of the other shield-bearer. Seeing an opening, he swung the shortsword in his hand towards the neck of the other attacker…

The two Gold ranked shield-bearers currently laid on the ground on a pool of their own blood, which soon seeped deep into the ground and left nothing but a large crimson mark.

It was apparent that Lorist felt extremely exhausted from the way he swayed as he stood on the ground. However, he still couldn't afford to catch a breather as the battle was still going on. Expending quite an effort to retrieve his longsword from the body and shield, he headed towards the tents without delay.

Bloodshed and Remorse

A mercenary wearing a goose feather-decorated helmet appeared before Lorist and snickered as the blood of his enemies dripped downwards from his hands. There were 3 bloody guard squad members beside him with one of them lying silent and unmoving while the other two's bodies twitched uncontrollably.

Seeing Lorist approach with a solemn expression, that mercenary ceased his grinning and roared when Lorist was just inches from him as he swung his flail downwards.

Clang! The flail was sent flying onto the ground with a flash, beating up a cloud of dust and making a dent on the ground.

Stunned, the mercenary looked around and thought, where is he? Where did that young fella disappear to all of a sudden? Before he recovered from his shock, a shadow flashed past in the corner of his eyes and a sudden pain filled his mind before he was able to turn to look, causing him to shiver uncontrollably. Opening his eyes in pain, he noticed that his stomach had been cut open with his innards slipping outwards from within.

"Uggh…" The Feathersoar mercenary's vision gradually darkened as he gradually slipped powerlessly to the ground. By the time he landed, he had already lost all signs of life.

Was that the 10th or 11th mercenary? Lorist had already lost count. When he first rushed into the horde of people, he noticed that the situation was far worse than he had predicted given the number of bodies of his troops that were on the ground. With but a quick check of the area, Lorist counted at least 30 corpses that were part of his guard squad and defense unit.

With his silhouette razing like a savage storm to the next crowd where a group of 8 Norton soldiers were struggling to hold their ground against 4 Feathersoar mercenaries who were fighting in a practiced formation, the enemy mercenaries quickly fell to the ground with their throats slit one by one. The 8 family soldiers were stunned, but upon noticing that the silhouette was Lorist, they all cheered "Norton!" in the loudest voice they could as they followed him to the next area to wipe out the rest of the Feathersoar mercenaries.

Wherever Lorist showed himself, the guard squad and defense unit members would fight like there was no tomorrow, having had their morale raised. It was apparent that victory was gradually shifting to Lorist's side.

However, the Feathersoar mercenaries weren't going to back down that easily. Lorist even had to admit that they were far more courageous than the ex-bandit guard squad members and used a more effective fighting style as well. The crucial difference was that all of the Feathersoar mercenaries had awakened their Battle Force and one of their Bronze ranks could easily take on four non-Battle Force users from the defense unit. Had it not been for the guard squad members who also could use Battle Force taking most of the brunt, the losses for the defense unit might be even worse.

Lorist was merciless in his culling and none of the Feathersoar mercenaries who had encountered him managed to escape alive. Lorist was currently struck deeply with remorse as he never would've expected that the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew would still resist despite the threat of more than 20 ballistas. What's worse was that the ballistas ceased to be effective after a little more than ten kills. The soldiers who had surrounded the tents didn't expect that conflict would truly break out as well and were surprised that the mercenaries didn't surrender in the end.

This is all my fault… Lorist suddenly halted and made a backhand slash before pushing his sword through the back of the mercenary who had been staggered by his former strike.

I was far too careless. I really should've planned for the worst and not expect these mercenaries to surrender without putting up a fight. Lorist dashed forward yet again and decapitated a mercenary who was just about to thrust his sword down onto a guard squad soldier that was knocked to the floor. The stump of the severed neck spurted out huge volumes of blood which painted the whole of Lorist's body crimson red.

Lorist didn't bother to evade the blood and let it cover him all over. It was definitely my fault for being so arrogant. My previous victories have made me far too careless to the point that I thought that everything would go according to my plan. I even forgot the most basic principle that anything can happen on the battlefield. I even got held back by the shield-bearers for so long without being able to do much about it.

Back when Grandmaster Ciroba revealed their plot, Lorist was still confident that he had everything under control and since Josk would handle the mercenaries outside the gate. Given that Patt's 280 men had the tents surrounded with Ovidis's ballistas ready to attack, he believed that as long as he was able to take out Adams, he could then swiftly take care of the rest who were resting at the tents.

But what he didn't expect was the two Gold ranked shield-bearers who had stalled him for nearly 20 minutes, during which many things started to turn downhill. Josk, Patt, Ovidis, Shadekampf and Reidy had all played their parts well, but Lorist himself messed up and let Adams attack rampantly while rallying his allies to resist the entrapment of the family soldiers, causing all the previous preparations to go to waste and triggering an all-out battle.

It was the serious casualties of his own men that made Lorist so conflicted and remorseful. Before Charade and Potterfang arrive, he believed that the lack of men was one of the most serious problems the dominion faced. Wildnorth Town still hadn't been taken care off, yet he's planning to develop a city at Morgan Hills to stave off the Kenmayses. The dominion was also under the threat of the barbarians from time to time. Even though Josk went all out and chased the barbarian riders away, it was unknown when they would retaliate and cause even more trouble for Lorist.

One cause of worry for Lorist was the allocation of the workforce. It wasn't that there was insufficient people, but rather not many of them were suited for the job. For example, at Maplewoods Bastide, only 130 or so people of the 2000 plus living there had awakened their Battle Force and among them, 40 of them were aged above 38 and had retired from the family's forces due to various reasons ranging from old injuries to disabilities. The defense unit Lorist had just formed could only reach 120 people with their inclusion.

Lorist was so adamant on teaching every willing youth how to awaken their Battle Force despite the insistence of the old butler not to was because he understood that the dangers the family would have to face would only increase in the future. He had also wanted to move the main base of the family to the Morgan Hills because he had hoped that it would bring them further away from the threat that was Wildnorth Town for the moment. That was the hidden intention that Lorist had told nobody apart from Shadekampf.

During his stay at Wildnorth Town, Shadekampf's task was not like that of Supervisor Kedan to do a survey on the population there but rather befriending the garrison soldiers and family members who had just recently been relinquished of their positions and benefits. After getting a couple of them drunk, Shadekampf obtained a rather surprising piece of intelligence: the four families had up to 600 Battle Force awakened youths at their disposal. Even though most of them were Bronze and Iron ranks, each family had at least five Silver ranks as well. How else would the four families carry out their smuggling operations without any fighters of their own? Otherwise, they would've long been swallowed up by the crooks of the black market or been wiped out by the time they encountered garrison troops of other dominions.

For the last 100 years, the commoner families of Wildnorth Town had put heavy emphasis on their children's upbringing. Even though they only had the former Krissen Empire's military Battle Force technique, which was far harder to train in than higher-ranked Battle Force techniques, given their relatively good standard of living, there was no fear of problems like malnourishment which would hinder the awakening of Battle Force, thus allowing the four families to have more and more Battle Force users over time. One of the main factors the four families managed to prevail and rule over WIldnorth Town was because they had the most number of Battle Force users among the other families there.

Lorist thought that it was fortunate that the four families' smuggling operations were only contained within the Northlands given that there was no way that they would be able to go past the natural barrier that separated the Northlands from the outside world that was Metropoulos River. If the four families somehow managed to reach Morante City and got their hands on any basic or high-ranked Battle Force manual, the Nortons would find it much harder to resist the ambitions of the four families.

By that time, the four families would have sufficient power to wipe out the already weak Nortons and let their descendants marry into the defeated Norton Family. That way, the Norton Family would legitimately be replaced by someone from the four families. Luckily, the four families didn't plan that far ahead and were nothing but short-sighted money hoarders in the end and had all their focus on the petty farmland in front of their eyes and were calculative to the last copper piece. Now that Lorist had returned to the family, the end of the four families was definitely near.

If Wildnorth Town really only had a little more than ten people who have awakened their Battle Force, then Lorist would definitely jump to the chance to wipe them out with whatever people he had that could use Battle Force to clear out all the problems in one fell swoop. However, after he received news of the true might Wildnorth Town had, Lorist thought that if he were able to recruit those men under his banner, then the Norton Family would be able to defy even the orders of Duke Loggins in the future.

However, that was but an afterthought of his. Even though Wildnorth Town was technically under the rule of the Norton Family, they still posed quite a threat to it. Given that the disparity between the family's force and that of Wildnorth Town was rather large, Lorist could only resort to placating them for now as he awaited the arrival of the main convoy. For instance, the incident with the population survey had caused Lorist to be quite annoyed. While the four families were busy letting their own members fill out the spots for the expanded garrison force, they also stopped the garrison soldiers who were kicked out from cooperating with the survey while building their hate for the Norton Family to prevent them from potentially being used.

Among the family members of the deceased Norton soldiers Lorist brought back from WIldnorth Town, less than 10 out of the 1500 of them had awakened their battle Force. It was due to that and many other factors that Lorist decided to endure and wait for his plan to rile up the various families of Wildnorth Town of which moving the ex-garrison members and their families to construct a new town at Poplar Coast was a central part to take fruit, thus allowing Lorist the opportunity to make his move.

As Lorist slaughtered his way through the battlefield, he dwelled quite a lot on his plans. Every time he saw a blood-covered guard lying on the ground, his remorse increased even more. They had all perished because of his inadequate planning. The more he witnessed, the more he started to loathe himself and Crew Leader Adams. What made him curious was the reason Adams still choose to resist despite having been put in a disadvantageous situation. Even if they managed to wipe out the soldiers surrounding the tents, they would still have to face the brunt of the ballistas. Did they really think that they could retake the construction site by themselves?

Two streaks of green arrows flew past Lorist's vision and pinned two Feathersoar mercenaries on the ground. Having seen Josk's heroics from atop the wall, the guard squad and defense unit members cheered loudly and within moments, not a single standing Feathersoar mercenary could be seen.

Lorist shook his head and recovered from his depressed mental state. In the distance, two groups of people could be seen gathering together for some reason.

As he walked in that direction, the people beside him moved aside to make a path for him. When Lorist arrived, he saw Reidy and a Silver ranked Feathersoar mercenary fighting. Reidy had wounds on his left rib and his chest and was bloodied all over. However, he still moved relaxedly whereas his enemy was breathing raggedly with a look of panic on his face. Even the silver blade glow on his sword was flickering from time to time: it seemed that the victor had long been decided.

Lorist left the crowd and headed for the other group. Right after he took a couple of steps away, a cry of agony rang out from behind him that was later followed by loud cheers of praise...

Repercussions

The other group of people were surrounding Crew Leader Adams who was currently fighting against Patt and Jim. Patt was currently uninjured given the fact that he was a shield-bearer: while he excelled at defense, his offense was no doubt slightly lacking. However, the reason Patt was so out of breath was because he was busy providing Jim support and shielding from the incessant blows of the enraged Adams. It was clear that he loathed Jim for his betrayal.

"Stand down, you guys. Let me take him on," said Lorist as he walked among the three and parried Adams's strike towards Jim with his longsword.

Patt and Jim both felt relieved and quickly retreated. Even though it was a two-on-one battle, the Three Star Silver ranked Adams obviously held overwhelming advantage over Patt and Jim, who were One Star Silver and Two Star Silver ranked respectively. Had Patt not been a shield-bearer who had trained in dynamic vision, the two of them would have been defeated long ago.

"It's you?" said Adams as he recognized Lorist's blood-covered form. Surprised, he quickly turned to look behind him but his line of sight was obscured by the multitudes of soldiers surrounding him.

"There's no point in looking. The two Gold ranked shield-bearers have already died by my hand," said Lorist calmly. "Now that your crew has lost most of its people, you're satisfied right? My family's soldiers also suffered quite a loss. These people have all died because you stubbornly refused to surrender. It's now your turn, so I ask you. Are you satisfied?"

"Stop bullshitting. How could you have killed them? You must be lying..." said Adams in a fit of denial. The moment Lorist mentioned the death of the two shield-bearers, he had been shocked into a trance before he snapped out of it and rebutted.

"Why would I bother lying to you? Look at your surroundings and you will understand. You guys, make some way so this bastard can have a good look," ordered Lorist.

The soldiers from the two squads all retreated ten steps back, allowing Adams to see the bloodstained floor littered with corpses of the mercenaries as well as the metal armor-equipped Norton soldiers who were rummaging around the battlefield and dragging the bodies of their comrades to one side while driving a sword into other mercenaries who were on the verge of dying. From time to time, a cry of agony could be heard...

"How... How can this be?" Adams was completely baffled by the scene before him to the point that his face turned completely pale. Originally having the advantage after he started leading his men during the battle, he was reminded of Jim's betrayal when he joined the fray with his other comrades. Had it not been for Jim, he wouldn't have let his guard down so easily and allow his men to rest at the tents and fall into the trap.

At that point, Adams had already lost all notion of guiding his men and only wanted to chop Jim into a thousand tiny pieces. Thus, he gave up on fighting Patt and went to settle the score with Jim. It was fortunate that Patt didn't give up the chase and continued to pester Adams before he joined forces with Jim and held him back for the whole time. By the time Adams had snapped out of his fury, he was already facing Lorist and was once again shocked to hear the revelation.

"My brothers... My Feathersoar Mercenary Crew..." Adams had already fallen to the lowest depths of despair. Staring at Lorist, bloodlust once again filled his eyes. This darned baby-faced Baron Norton... I'll slaughter him even at the cost of my life!

"I will end you!" roared Adams as he speedily approached with his sword raised up high.

Lorist rushed right at him and after the instant the both of them passed each other, Adams's head could be seen flying through the air as his headless body continued taking tens of steps forward while spraying fresh blood all over the place before it plummeted to the ground with an audible thump.

It had finally ended. Lorist started to feel both physically and mentally worn out and could only support himself with his sword pushed to the ground to stop himself from collapsing.

...

Shadekampf came down from the walls to Lorist's side and said, "Milord, you..."

Lorist said in a tired voice, "Shadekampf, I'm fine. I'm just a little too tired. Carry me to someplace where I can sit down..."

A chair was brought in front of Lorist without delay and after sitting down, Lorist said, "Shadekampf, I need you to get someone to call Supervisor Kedan and Butler Boris over here. I have some instructions to give out. Also, get me an estimate of our losses on the battlefield as soon as possible."

"Milord, what do you need us to do?" asked Supervisor Kedan after he came over with Butler Boris. While Kedan was not too bothered by the smell of blood and corpses of the battlefield, Boris on the other hand had his face drained pale by the spectacle and was stifling the urge to vomit.

"Supervisor Kedan, go to the camp outside the walls and rally up the youths that have come with us into a few temporary defense units with 120 people in each squad. Form as many as you can with the people you have and allocate weapons to them as needed. I need them to take charge of defending the walls as soon as possible."

"Yes, milord. I will go carry that out right away," said Kedan before he saluted and hurriedly left.

"Butler Boris, I'll be leaving the new slaves that have just arrived under your care, so help them settle down into their quarters and arrange for their meals to be served. Make sure they don't cause any trouble, alright?" Lorist instructed.

"Understood, milord. I will make sure that they stay within the camp quietly," said Boris before he bowed and headed for the place where the slaves gathered to watch the bloody fight that had just ended. However, after taking a few steps, he could no longer stand the stench of blood in the air and puked on the spot.

A sound of crying resounded not far away. Lorist lifted his head to take a look only to see Reidy supporting Ovidis, whose body was wrapped with several bandages, over to where Lorist was. Ovidis was currently grief-stricken and crying like a little child with snot and tears muddled all over his face.

When the both of them finally reached Lorist's front, Ovidis kneeled down and hugged Lorist's leg before he cried out, "Milord, they're all dead... Pete, Mark, Ankor, Wessen..."

Lorist recognized the names that Ovidis had mentioned: they were Ovidis's comrades who had deserted the army and joined the bandits together with him.

Lorist patted Ovidis's shoulder and said, "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have been so naive to think that everything would go according to plan. I was so fixated on the idea of the mercenaries surrendering that I forgot that even a desperate animal would not hesitate to jump off a cliff...

"Reidy, you did pretty good today. How are your injuries holding up?"

"I'm fine, they're just superficial scratches that will recover in a day or two. Milord, I've killed a Silver ranked mercenary just now. It's my first time defeating someone of a higher rank, so I'm incredibly happy," said Reidy, obviously satisfied with his performance during the battle.

Lorist laughed and said, "I've seen it. You did great. However, you shouldn't think too highly of this as this time, the enemy was forced into desperation and the tides of the battle had shifted to our side. It is possible that your enemy made a mistake from being forced into that desperate situation. Had he been in perfect condition both in form and mind, he might've been able to put a couple or more wounds on you. So, you still need to train hard, alright?"

"I will, milord," promised Reidy.

"Come here and help me move this guy over there and lay him on a mat. Seriously... For him to cry himself to sleep..." said Lorist as he looked at Ovidis who was snoring away with his head on his knee.

"Milord, this guy was just bragging that he had killed 7 enemies. Initially, I thought he was just bluffing, but it seems that it might've been true. There are three long wounds on his body which he had just received treatment for, and he has just consumed some medicine as well. So, it's not weird for him to fall asleep like that. Had it not been for the fact that he got to know about the death of his comrades, he would've went to get some sleep long ago," said Reidy before he asked someone to carry Ovidis into a tent so that he may get some good rest.

Josk walked over and lowered his head before he said, "Milord, I've let your expectations down and let two to three escape..."

"What's going on?" Lorist asked. He was quite confused that Josk had mentioned 'two to three' ambiguously instead of a fixed number.

According to Josk, he had forced the mercenaries outside the wall to surrender according to the original plan. But after the sounds of battle rang out followed by Shadekampf ordering the ballistas to be fired, Josk noticed that something must have went wrong. By the time he turned back to look, the situation outside the walls had already turned chaotic. He only understood that a huge change had occurred after seeing Lorist entangled with the two shield-bearers.

Without hesitating, Josk quickly fired his arrows and managed to kill two mercenaries in the beginning before the rest managed to rush among the ranks of the Norton soldiers, causing him to be unable to aim properly without worrying about hitting his own allies. Thus, he could only focus his attention on looking for mercenaries who were not engaged in battle with any one of his own allies. Due to the sudden change and the diversion of Josk's attention, the mercenaries outside the wall who have surrendered took the chance to slip away on their horses.

However, it did not go unnoticed by Josk and he quickly fired at them in response. But due to the cunning plan of the mercenaries to split up into different directions as opposed to traveling in a group, especially some experienced mercenaries who frequently zig-zagged around the field, it became even harder for Josk to snipe all of them down.

Having shot out 32 arrows during a short span of time, only 26 mercenaries were knocked off their horses. Two of them had managed to escape from Josk's range of fire while another had been hit by an arrow but managed to get away slumped on his horse and it wasn't known whether he survived the hit or not. That's why Josk gave an uncertain count to Lorist in his report.

"It's not your fault. It's because I didn't consider the possibility of the mercenaries choosing to resist despite being under the threat of ballistas..." said Lorist as he shook his head while letting out a sigh.

"How are the casualties?" Josk asked.

"I'm still not certain of that at the moment, but I've already asked Shadekampf to conduct a rough estimate for me. We will know in a few moments. I really hope that we haven't lost too many men..." replied Lorist in a pained voice.

After a few more moments, Shadekampf returned to Lorist's side along with Patt.

"Tell me..." said Lorist.

"Milord, our forces have lost around 50 to 60 men with 89 injured, among which 17 soldiers were handicapped, with 38 others sustaining heavy injuries and are still in an unstable condition... The casualties of the guard squad number 14 men and the rest are all members of the defense units... It was fortunate that they were wearing metal armor. Otherwise, it would've been much worse," said Shadekampf as his voice got softer from his grief.

Lorist's mouth twitched as he stood there speechless. Aside from the 80 soldiers on the hill and the walls who were manning the ballistas, more than half of the 280 Norton soldiers have either died or gotten hurt. Given that a squad's worth of soldiers were incapacitated in that fight, it was no wonder Ovidis was crying so profusely.

Lorist only managed to control his emotions after a while before he asked, "How about the casualties of the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew?"

"Milord, of the 172 mercenaries that were within the walls including their leader, 23 have surrendered to us as prisoners with the rest being all dead without a single survivor," replied Shadekampf.

The reason that there are no surviving injured enemy mercenaries was because all living Feathersoar mercenaries found on the battlefield regardless of the extent of their wounds were slaughtered by the hate-filled Norton soldiers who had lost so many of their comrades to them. Had it not been for the 20 mercenaries who were on the Norton Family's side stopping the soldiers, the 23 surrendered mercenaries wouldn't have been spared as well.

"What is that you have in your hand?" Lorist asked.

Shadekampf took out a few documents with the first one being the casualty report, the second one being a record of the surviving Feathersoar mercenaries and a third document that was filled to the brim with many words. Lorist had casually asked Shadekampf about it because he was curious about its contents.

"Milord, this is the kill count as recorded by Patt," explained Shadekampf.

With his curiosity piqued, Lorist asked, "What are the statistics? Tell me more about it."

Shadekampf referred to the paper and said, "Milord, you've killed the most among all of us with 41 Feathersoar mercenaries having died by your hands, including the two shield-bearers you defeated earlier. The next on the list is Sir Josk. who single-handedly shot 15 of the enemy mercenaries dead. His kills were the easiest to determine as every corpse had an arrow on it. Ovidis killed 7, Reidy killed 5 while Patt killed the least at 2 people. However, that was because he had long been encumbered by the squad leader ever since the start of the battle. Other than that, the ballistas managed to kill 14 mercenaries and the 20 mercenaries on our side killed 7 and captured another 23."

Lorist made a quick calculation in his mind and came up with a conclusion quickly. "That means that the total number of enemies killed by us is 91. Including the 23 captured prisoners, there are 114 people in total of the 172 men of the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew. The extra 58 people were killed by our guard squad and defense unit, which have both lost 130 plus men in total. Considering the fact that most of their kills have been done when they were cleaning up the battlefield after the main fight, the losses of our men to theirs is near a 3 to 1 ratio. This level of battle prowess is far too weak."

Upon hearing Lorist's words, Josk, Patt and Reidy all showed apologetic expressions. Even though the guard squad and defense units were usually equipped with metal armor and seemed rather imposing and impressive, when actually deployed on the battlefield, they weren't as effective as they seemed at all. Even though they had the support of the ballistas as well as the superior equipment compared to the Feathersoar mercenaries who only had leather armor, the outcome of their losses in relation to that of their enemy was quite disappointing, even after taking into account of the the substantially higher number of Battle Force users of the enemy.

"We should carry out more drills and tactical training runs in the future," Lorist concluded quickly so that the rest wouldn't focus too much on the setback.

Reward

Second sponsored chapter of the week also thanks to Sundarsan L. from the UK. Merry Christmas everyone! More coming later today!

"Patt, please invite Jim and his fellow mercenaries to come over. Also, bring the surrendered Feathersoar mercenaries here as well. I have something I want to ask them," Lorist said.

"Understood, milord," said Patt before he turned and headed for the group of the surrendered mercenaries not far away.

Jim and the rest of his mercenaries helped Patt to escort two of the captives over. What made Lorist wonder was that the closer the mercenaries approached Lorist, the more respectful their gazes became as if they revered Lorist for some reason.

"What's with you guys?" Lorist asked Jim.

Jim pointed towards the corpses of the two Gold ranked shield-bearers not far away and licked his lips before he said, "Milord... Those two... they..."

"What's with them? Aren't they just two Gold ranked shield-bearers? Oh, that's right, why would those two be in the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew? I've never heard you guys mention them before," said Lorist with a dissatisfied tone in his voice. The presence of those shield-bearers had not once been mentioned by Jim and his crew nor Butler Boris when they first came up with the plan and the mercenaries said that the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew only had around 10 Silver ranked fighters as one of the three most famous mercenary crews in the Iblia Kingdom. Even though Butler Boris probably wouldn't know the details within the crew, news about two Gold ranked fighters within their ranks shouldn't have escaped his ears, given that they had worked together for multiple occasions.

"That's not it, milord," said Jim in a slightly frantic voice, afraid that Lorist would misunderstand their intentions. "I had no clue at all that those two had returned. It's been over a year since we last heard of them. When I was hitting the pubs, I've met Adams once or twice and he said that those two had traveled far away to become someone else's disciples without mentioning any other details. The rest of us usually wouldn't mind small matters like that and continued feasting away without considering the two to be part of their crew."

"You mean to say that they're rather famous?" Lorist asked interestedly.

"That's right, milord. These two shield-bearers are pretty famous in the Royal Capital of Windbury City. The elder of the twin brothers has a fire Battle Force attribute while the younger has a water Battle Force attribute. It was rumored that they have some degree of telepathic communication ability with each other that was the source of their excellent synergy and teamwork. Combined with the excellent combination of their Battle Force attributes, these twins have managed to defeat two Gold ranked fighters in a team battle when they were at the Three Star Silver rank. That battle ended with only one of the Gold ranks escaping with the other being killed by the twin brothers, thus greatly boosting their reputation.

"The twins were orphans who have been discovered and adopted by Crew Leader Adams when they were around the age of 12. To raise the twins, Adams had spent lots of effort and resources. I have just heard a few Feathersoar mercenaries say that the twins had just recently broke through to the Gold rank after training in seclusion for around a year and only returned to the crew two months ago, during which they dueled with one of the Second Prince's subordinates, Blademaster Luins, for more than 300 bouts before they lost due to lack of stamina. The Second Prince was so fascinated by their abilities that he had wanted to hire them as his personal bodyguards for a high fee, but they rejected the offer in the end. This escort was their first mission ever since they returned to the crew, but who would've expect that it would also be their last and end up dying at your hands, milord..."

Jim stammered the longer he continued. Had he not been present when that happened, he definitely wouldn't believe that those two corpses belonged to the most famous twin shield-bearers of the Iblia Kingdom, who were both Gold ranked fighters. Jim and his mercenary comrades conceded without much trouble back then was because Lorist had Josk, a Gold ranked marksman, on his side. None of them had took the dominion lord, Lorist, seriously and believed that he wouldn't have been able to take over the construction site by himself given his power as an Iron rank without Josk's help.

However, these mercenaries finally understood that the seemingly mediocre Lorist was an existence on par of that of fearsome dragons. Even if they hadn't seen his battle with the twin shield-bearers, the mere sight of the speed and efficiency at which Lorist mowed down the rest of the Feathersoar mercenaries with one or two strikes each shook their hearts to the core. That was even more so the case during his battle with Crew Leader Adams, in which Lorist had taken his head with only one strike. Even Silver ranked mercenaries like Patt and Jim were shaken by that scene: the crew leader that the both of them had so painstakingly defended against had so easily been decapitated by Lorist in one swift stroke. Witnessing all that had cemented the difference between Lorist's and the mercenary's abilities, causing them to have a newfound respect and awe for him.

"I agree, those two had held themselves quite well in battle. No wonder they were able to stop me for so long and made me use so much energy in defeating them," said Lorist as he nodded. Little did he know that his words had almost made the mercenaries around him faint in disbelief. If the twin shield-bearers merely 'held themselves quite well' during that battle with Lorist that lasted less than 30 minutes and even died at his hand, given that they were capable of fighting a Blademaster for more than 300 tiring bouts, didn't that mean that Lorist was stronger than Blademasters? That fact had caused the looks of the mercenaries to be even more fearful.

"Jim, thank you and your comrades so much for aiding us when we were under the assault of the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew. I thank you on behalf on the whole Norton Family. I have decided to double your payment today as a sign of gratitude. Shadekampf, go to the warehouse and bring out a chest of gold Fordes. Give each of these fine men 20 gold Fordes each," said Lorist.

"Yes, milord," said Shadekampf before he quickly retreated. The mercenaries all let out soft cheers of delight upon hearing about the doubling of their pay as they didn't expect that Lorist would be so generous. Their initial guilt about betraying the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew had all been melted away as all of them felt that it was definitely a worthwhile job.

"Also, I'd like to ask..." Lorist said. "Jim, would you be willing to join the Norton Family as our family knight?"

The surrounding men all quieted down as they focused their attention on Jim.

With a reddened face, Jim looked back at his comrades. Some of them had eyes filled with envy as they believed that becoming a knight of a noble family was the best possible outcome for men like them. However, some felt that the current state of the Norton Family didn't seem to promise a bright future for its subjects and felt that it was far better being a free mercenary that was not held down by any obligation. Others were even jealous and felt that it was unfair that Jim was the only one who was offered that chance even though all 20 of them also had a part in that battle.

After giving it some thought, Jim lifted his head and regained his calm before he said, "Milord, I'm only a mercenary and I have nothing in mind right now but to fulfill your tasks..."

Lorist felt disappointed with that response, but he waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about it, I understand how you feel. But since I've already given you the invitation, the doors of the Nortons will always be open for you should you ever change your mind."

"Thank you, milord..." said Jim as he bowed deeply.

"Then what about the rest of you? Would you be interested in joining the Norton Family's forces?" Lorist asked the remaining 19 mercenaries.

After a moment, six of them approached Lorist and said in unison, "Milord, we are willing to be in your service."

Delighted, Lorist said, "I appreciate your commitment. It is my wish that you rack up some achievements for yourselves so that you may one day become knights of the family."

Of the 6 mercenaries, there was 1 One Star Silver rank, 3 Iron ranks and 2 Bronze ranks. Their enlistment into the forces of the Nortons was much needed to relieve the loss of the men who were sacrificed on the battlefield.

At that moment, Shadekampf brought over a chest filled with small pouches each containing 20 gold Fordes. Satisfied with Shadekampf's considerate inclusion of the sachets, Lorist gave the approval to distribute them to the mercenaries. However, one Silver ranked mercenary who had just joined the Norton forces said that since he was already part of them, it was only natural for him to fulfil his duty and urged that he didn't require any payment.

Lorist laughed and said, "Take it, my friend. The Norton Family doesn't lack that kind of money. This is your reward for doing good work for the family, so I insist that you take it. After this, rest up well. I will ask for you guys if I need anything else."

The mercenaries all left happily with their money with some even opening their sachets to count the coins as they admired them while they walked back to the camp before unwillingly putting them back into the sachets. Only Jim remained, seemingly having something to say to Lorist.

Upon noticing Jim's hesitation, Lorist asked, "What's wrong, Jim? Did you change your mind?"

Jim responded respectfully, "Milord, I've stayed to plead for the lives of the surrendered Feathersoar mercenaries. I know many of them and they are all my good friends who also didn't act against your men during the battle just now and only fought casually against us. They finally surrendered when you made your way there. I hope that you will show them mercy and allow them to serve you along with the rest of us mercenaries."

Lorist stroked his chin while he thought before he said straightforwardly, "Alright then. Since they didn't cause the family any loss, I am willing to spare them on your behalf. I will also hire them on the same conditions as I hired you and your crew, would that be acceptable?"

"Milord, I am grateful for your benevolence and grace. I thank you on their behalf as well," said Jim gratefully.

"You should stay for a little more. I still want to ask them some questions," said Lorist as he motioned for the two surrendered Feathersoar mercenaries to come forward.

First, he asked them why they still decided to resist even after they found out that they had been trapped and surrounded by ballistas. That wasn't the usual behavior of mercenaries, who only cared about their own lives unlike soldiers of proper armies or nobles families.

The two of the captives gave a simple answer: before they left the dominion of the Kenmayses to deliver the shipment, Viscount Kenmays had promised to make Crew Leader Adams a baron if they were able to cooperate with the Kenmays Family to make the Nortons submit as well as enfeoff him part of the territory of the Norton Family's dominion. As the Nortons' dominion spanned a large area, there was more than enough land for five baronies. Adams would then become an official vassal noble house of the Kenmays Family. He had also promised his fellow mercenaries that he would recruit them to become his family knights. That was why they were so willing to fight despite the risks involved.

Good Sol! Lorist was really struck speechless after hearing their response. The Kenmays Family were truly too devious in their plots; for them to use the territory of the Norton Family which had yet to fall into their hands to entice Crew Leader Adams... it was no surprise that the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew was so desperate during that battle! Darn it! As expected of a family of lowly, devious merchants!

His second question was to verify the truth about the rumor about the Kenmays Family's new army of 2000 men at the Royal Capital of Windbury that Adams had mentioned during his chat with Jim before the battle.

According to the captives, all that was said by Adams was true. The elder one even revealed some insider information: the Kenmays Family had secretly received the support and permission of the Second Prince to form their army. When the Feathersoar mercenaries got to know about that, they expressed their worries about the crew leader's future position in the Kenmays Family as they may no longer be as integral to the Kenmayses now that they had a force of their own. However, Adams said that there was no need to worry and mentioned that the reason the Second Prince supported the formation of the army was to put some pressure on Duke Loggins. Additionally, the Kenmays Family and the Second Prince were still in the process of negotiating with the duke to let the force of 2000 enter the Northlands.

Lorist's third query was about the status and defenses of the Redriver Valley Bastide.

The captives said that they had taken ten days of rest at the bastide before the shipment mission to the construction site began as they had spent the last month traveling from the royal capital to the Kenmayses' dominion. The two of them answered every single question that Lorist brought up about bastide, much to his satisfaction.

After sending Jim and the two mercenaries away, Lorist looked and Josk and Patt before he said, "Joe, Patt, do you have any energy left?"

"Milord, please don't hesitate to give us your orders," said the both of them energetically in unison.

"You've heard what the mercenaries had to say. The dominion of the Kenmays Family is very weakly defended right now, especially so at the Redriver Valley Bastide. The immigrant town they have nearby only has a garrison of 100 plus people at most with no defensive walls or fortifications. It would be extremely rude for us to not pay them a visit after what the mercenaries they hired have done here, so I've decided to let the two of you do the honors. I give you one hour to prepare a squad of men including the ones in charge of the ballistas just now as well as some uninjured guard squad members. If they're tired, bring some carriages with you and let them rest on the way there. After occupying the Redriver Valley Bastide, send someone to notify me about it and move everything that you think we can use over here. I want to make sure that the place is burnt to the ground so that the Kenmays Family will have nothing that they will be able to use against us there," ordered Lorist.

"Your will is our command, milord."

Chapter 107 Supply Transportation Prev ChapterNext Chapter

Here's your third sponsored chapter of the week jointly sponsored by Sudarsan L. from the UK and Tyler L. from the USA. Fourth sponsored will be coming tomorrow, so cya all then!

Lorist sat back down on his chair to rest for a while and by the time he recovered some energy, he circulated his internal energy according to the Aquametal Technique for one minor cycle. Feeling refreshed, he sent Josk and Patt off to their expedition with their troops before he headed for the medical area within the camp.

Around the area of the 12 large tents, the injured soldiers of the family could be seen lying and occasionally letting out moans of pain. It was quite fortunate for them that some medical supplies had been found within the construction site. Having had their injuries wrapped up and after consuming some medicinal concoctions that would hasten their recovery, the ones with light injuries fell asleep not long after. However, those who were injured more heavily had a much harder time as they couldn't embrace the peace of slumber due to the pain they were suffering from.

Lorist's herbalism knowledge that he had picked up at Dawn Academy had also been put to good use. After giving the more heavily injured soldiers another check, he had someone else slaughter a goat and used its intestines to make threads that were later used to seal up the open wounds of some soldiers. After that, he cleaned up the wounds and applied some more medicine onto it before he wrapped them up with some bandages. Lorist also came up with a few medicinal prescriptions according to each soldier's needs.

He hoped that these men who had so bravely served his family wouldn't lose their lives due to insufficient treatment. That's why he had refused to listen of the advice of his subordinates to get some rest and worked ten hours nonstop. By the time he was finished, dawn had already come.

When Lorist got up, he felt a sudden dizziness from being seated for too long a time and weakly leaned on Shadekampf to support his body. Shadekampf hurriedly said, "Milord, you really should get some rest. Otherwise, your body won't be able to take it..."

With a pale, but happy face, Lorist said, "I'm fine. I'll feel much better after getting some sleep. I've already came up with a few prescriptions for the respective patients, so make sure they consume it so their injuries don't worsen. For now, help me to my tent so that I may rest. Oh, right, you've also only got around 4 hours of sleep, right? You shouldn't push yourself too far either and rest if you need to..."

However, after only sleeping for two hours, Lorist was awoken by a messenger that Josk sent. Even though he didn't manage to rest for long, more than half of the fatigue that had built up during the battle yesterday had vanished. After hurriedly washing his face to refresh himself, Lorist asked for the messenger.

Looking at the hourglass on the table nearby, Lorist thought, Josk had only left for 14 hours. Considering that it takes only 6 hours to get to the Redriver Valley Bastide, didn't they return far too quickly? After all, they did bring with them tens of carriages...

The messenger who was sent over to deliver the news was rather elated. He mentioned that the Redriver Valley Bastide and the immigrant town nearby had both been taken over successfully. According to him, Josk had left the convoy to Patt and went forward by himself with another 40 riders and spent less than 6 hours before they arrived at the bastide. After killing seven guards and taking over the Kenmayses' castle, Josk and his men rushed to the immigrant town and their garrison troop surrendered without resistance after a few of their squad leaders were killed. Following that, Josk had ordered for the messenger and two other men to return to the construction site to send the good news.

The messenger also said that various supplies and resources were in abundance at the bastide. After Josk ordered his men to conduct a rough estimate of the resources contained within the rows of warehouses, he concluded that most of the items were green vine glue and food. Additionally, the messenger also reported that the head supervisor of the Kenmays Family that attempted to set the warehouses on fire, but he had been shot dead once Josk discovered his intentions. Josk was currently awaiting Lorist's instructions on how to deal with the resources as well as the 2000 plus people of the immigrant town.

Lorist instructed some guards at the camp to fetch Miss Telesti, Supervisor Hansk, Butler Boris, Shadekampf, as well as Paulobins, a One Star Silver mercenary who had just joined the Norton Family's forces, to discuss the matter.

Within a few moments, all of the aforementioned people gathered within the tent. After they were seated, Lorist announced the news of the occupation of the Redriver Valley Bastide and the nearby immigrant town, much to Boris's surprise and delight, as he no longer had to worry about the safety of his family members.

Lorist decided to utilize all the carriages that were available at the construction site for the transportation of the resources from the bastide, including the ones they had obtained from the shipment the day before. According to Hansk, there were around 800 carriages which were all equipped with the necessary horses. The only issue they had was the lack of reliable coachmen. Even if they were to use the members of the temporary defense units that they had just formed recently into the number, they would at most be able to mobilize 500 or so carriages and leave the construction site undefended.

SIgh, what we lack most is still personnel in the end, thought Lorist as he smirked. Hmm, couldn't we just use the coachmen that came with the shipment convoy and pick out some slave laborers who also know how to drive to solve the problem? I don't think that I need to worry about whether the slave laborers and coachmen would take this chance to run away... Given the immense area the Northlands covered and its sparse population, the slaves wouldn't have anywhere to run to nor will they be able to travel far as they wouldn't have enough food to last them long enough. There was also the possibility that they might be recaptured should they ever reach the dominions of other nobles and they might even be punished by the nobles of that land for escaping servitude as all the slaves of the Kenmays Family were branded with a mark behind their left ear. They might even be put to death for that offense.

Additionally, Lorist was going to announce to the slaves that he would restore their freedom after they finish transporting the goods by using a special concoction that would help heal the scars behind their ears over time. Initially, Lorist had planned to free them three years later after the construction of the wall fortifications as well as the other castle within the valley was complete. However, now that his family lacked manpower, especially youths, he chose to restore their freedom earlier and believed that they wouldn't run away if that was the case.

Lastly, Lorist also ordered Reidy to bring a group of men from the temporary defense units to participate in that operation to take the place of the soldiers who were at Redriver Valley Bastide. During the next shipment course, another group would take Reidy and his men's place to guard the bastide.

Butler Boris and Shadekampf would also join the convoy to the Redriver Valley Bastide. The reason for Boris's participation was so that he could reunite with his family and help Shadekampf out with finding the hidden storehouses throughout the bastide so that they wouldn't miss anything out.

Shadekampf on the other hand would be in charge of prioritizing which resources to ship over first. Lorist specified that he wanted the immigrants to be the first to be transported over to make up for the severe lack of population the Norton Family's dominion had to aid the development of the dominion.

He also tasked him with burning down the immigrant town as well as the Redriver Valley Bastide following the transportation of all the resources to the construction site so that the Kenmays Family would lose a location for their troops to be stationed and also teach them a lesson for daring to mess with the Norton Family.

Lorist said that given the decimation of the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew as well as the occupation of the Redriver Valley Bastide and the immigrant town, the Kenmays Family would lose all their standing within the Northlands, unless they manage to convince Duke Loggins to send his private army to retake the bastide as soon as possible. However, according to the surrendered Feathersoar mercenaries, the duke was extremely wary of the Kenmays Family and their inability to obtain permission from the duke to send in their own 2000-strong army was proof of that.

It would take at least another 3 days before the Kenmayses would be alerted to the eradication of the Feathersoar Mercenary Crew. And by the time their men at Gildusk City found out, it would take another week or so before the message would be able to reach the viscount. By then, it would take another 4 days approximately before Viscount Kenmays will be able to convince the duke to send out his army, and that in itself wasn't guaranteed either as the duke might secretly delight in the setback suffered by the Kenmays Family. Even if the viscount did manage to convince the duke to help him take back his dominion, it would take at least a month and a half before his army would be able to reach the bastide as mobilizing an army involved many procedures and protocols.

In conclusion, the 50 or so days to come would be relatively safe and the transportation operation would most likely be completed without interruptions. Lorist also instructed Shadekampf to tell Josk to have his men patrol the surrounding area after transporting the immigrants over to the construction site. Ideally, they would be able to catch the scouts of the Kenmays Family to further delay the information from being spread. Should the Kenmays Family's army somehow make their way to the Northlands earlier than Lorist had predicted, he would still be able to order his men to retreat in time even if the resources were not yet fully transported and burn the bastide and the immigrant town down.

"Milord, what do we do if the soldiers of the nobles in the area come over?" Shadekampf asked.

"Those people? Just have Josk get rid of them. They would at most have a couple of knights with the rest of the soldiers being disorganized farmer troops anyway. I believe that Josk would have no hard time showing them their place," said Lorist. He also wondered why the Kenmays Family chose to go against the Nortons instead of eradicating the nobles surrounding his dominion to claim their lands.

What Lorist didn't take into account was that before his arrival, the Norton Family was indeed one of the weakest families in the area with one of the largest dominions which also encompassed the location where the Kenmays Family intended to build their castle. Who else would they target other than the Nortons? However, Lorist's arrival had caused them a huge loss which they didn't even get to know about yet.

"Miss Telesti, I truly am sorry that we have to delay the construction process yet again," said Lorist after he finished managing the affairs of the transportation operation.

The young woman sighed and said, "Milord, I understand that you didn't have much of a choice in that matter. Now that the slaves have mostly been assigned to carry out the shipments, what would we do about the incomplete wall? If the Kenmays Family's forces come knocking a month and a half later, we would definitely have a much harder time defending the place without proper fortifications."

"I've already taken that into account. Aside from the slaves participating in the transportation operation, there should be around 800 laborers left behind here. I intend to utilize every single one of them including the women to help out with the construction. The elderly and children can also aid with the preparation of food. Supervisor Kedan and Old Man Balk, I'm afraid the days to come would be tough on you. Kedan, you will be in charge of managing the elderly, women and children and assigning tasks for them. Balk, I will leave the supervision of the construction of the walls to you. What you must remember is to prioritize the quality of the wall even if that would take a longer time," said Lorist.

"I understand, milord," replied Supervisor Kedan.

"Milord, please be assured that I will ensure that the wall will be as tough as it can be," Balk said confidently while thumping on his chest.

"Supervisor Hansk, you should also make some preparations to store and record the resources that will be shipped over."

"Yes, milord," said Hansk as he nodded.

"Um, Paulobins, since Ovidis is still recovering from his injuries and Reidy is busy escorting the shipment convoy, I am leaving you in charge of the temporary defense units, alright? You will be in charge of their training and managing the wall patrols. Are you confident you can handle that?" Lorist asked.

The young ex-mercenary jumped with a face red with excitement and exclaimed, "Milord, don't worry! I will definitely not let you down!"