Victory

Despite the warhorse's valiant efforts, the "accessory" on its leg still held it back. No matter how much the squire urged it on, it couldn't catch up with Knight Jacob in time.

"For honor! Charge!"

Seeing only two riders left on the opposite side, Knight Andrew took the spare lance from his remaining squire, roared, and launched another charge.

Meanwhile, Knight Jacob was cursing the distant squire, as his spare lance was still with the squire far away. Watching Knight Andrew already accelerating, Knight Jacob spat and had no choice but to draw his longsword, point it forward, and start to speed up again.

The two waves of cavalry collided once more. Without a doubt, Knight Andrew, who had the advantage in both numbers and weaponry, achieved a significant effect this time. He successfully unseated the experienced Knight Jacob and his squire was also cut down by Knight Andrew's father-in-law.

Feeling the dark clouds in his chest dissipate, Knight Andrew, who had achieved a decisive victory, felt that the goddess of victory had already lifted her skirt for him. He discarded the shattered lance and drew his longsword, continuing to charge towards the remaining squire on the opposite side.

Looking at the three charging cavalrymen coming his way, the squire knew that even with his superior equipment and skills, he probably wouldn't stand a chance. So, wisely, he chose to display a traditional medieval noble art: he dropped his weapon and raised his hands high.

Seeing the squire's decision to surrender, Knight Andrew also lowered his longsword, slowed his horse, and slowly approached the squire.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Watching Knight Andrew accept the squire's surrender, Jinn, who was captivated, couldn't help but murmur.

"Snap out of it!" Norn slapped Jinn, who was lost in admiration and shouted in frustration, "You should be embarrassed. If you had been more effective just now, you might be the one accepting the surrender."

The more Norn spoke, the angrier he became. If it weren't for Jinn's mistake, they might have already taken down the squire and obtained a set of luxurious knightly equipment.

Jinn could only sheepishly rub his head and keep apologizing.

"But there's still a chance to make up for the loss," Norn quickly comforted himself, then grabbed Jinn's hand and ran towards the battlefield.

"Hurry up! Let's grab some spoils!"

Norn wasn't the only one with this idea. The levy troops who had scattered in all directions earlier, seeing the knights' mighty performance, reemerged from who knows where. They shouted, as if possessed by the god of war, and charged forward.

On the contrary, the infantry on the opposite side, seeing their knights defeated and knowing the game was over, immediately turned their backs and fled. Their speed didn't reveal that they were thin and bony farmers at all.

The fastest runner was, of course, Knight Andrew on horseback. He slapped down a fleeing rich farmer with the flat of his sword while shouting, "Quick! Don't let a single one escape!"

His current heroic demeanor once again inspired his soldiers. Three cavalrymen, along with over thirty levy troops, transformed into fierce beasts out of their cages, swiftly chasing the others. Anyone who was slightly slower and caught up was inevitably beaten with the flat of a sword, the shaft of a spear, or even stones, and then captured.

At this moment, in Knight Andrew and his soldiers' eyes, the people on the opposite side were not humans, but long-legged wallets. After all, a captive was worth at least ten silver dinars, equivalent to half a pig or a quarter of a cow!

However, Norn and Jinn did not join the army of captors. Compared to venturing into the dense forest to catch local farmers, Norn chose to first protect their hard-earned spoils of victory.

Norn and Jinn took the lead, running to the two soldiers they had killed earlier.

Without any hesitation, they squatted beside the corpses and began to strip them of their equipment.

A lagging levy soldier from their side also had his eye on these two well-equipped corpses. Seeing the two small figures busy at work, he suddenly had a wicked thought and swung his spear shaft at Jinn.

Jinn caught off guard, was struck from behind and fell to the ground.

Norn's eyes widened instantly. He grabbed the spear on the ground, leaned back, and thrust it behind him along his body, directly impaling the levy soldier who had ambushed him.

Had it not been for the hasty use of the spear's tail instead of its tip, that move could have been fatal.

Looking at the levy soldier on the ground, writhing in pain, Norn picked up the spear and walked over to him, his gaze cold.

In the eyes of the levy soldier, Norn's small figure seemed to grow infinitely large at that moment, the spear in his hand gleaming menacingly, causing his body to tremble involuntarily.

Noticing that there were still some people around, Norn could only sternly say, "Get out of here!"

The levy soldier didn't even bother to pick up his weapon and crawled away in a panic.

Norn picked up this decent spear and then turned to check on Jinn.

"Are you okay?" Norn approached Jinn, who had already stood up and asked with concern.

Jinn smiled and pointed to his leather armor, signaling that he was fine.

"That's good!" Norn shifted his attention from Jinn and began to sort through his spoils again. An old leather cuirass with iron studs, a tattered coat of arms with a hole in it, three spears, a still-intact kite shield, and two round helmets.

To Norn's surprise, he also found a short dagger about 15 centimeters long on the squad leader.

As for the everyday clothes on the corpses, Norn decided against taking them. Even in a fight to the death, he couldn't bring himself to strip them. He would leave them a bit of dignity in death.

The distant noise continued, while Norn and Jinn wandered around the battlefield, picking up any overlooked spoils and waiting for the battle to end completely.

As the sun passed its zenith and began to wane, Knight Andrew, who had been chasing the enemy, finally returned with his men. They were holding various weapons and armor, looking extremely proud. Next to them was a large group of people tied up with ropes, their faces filled with sorrow.

Knight Andrew, who had won a great victory, looked at Knight Jacob and his squire beside him, calculating that he could probably earn 100 gold nomis just from the two sets of knightly equipment, not to mention the at least 80 gold nomis in ransom he could demand from their families.

Thinking of this, Knight Andrew laughed and said, "Let's head back! Celebration feast tonight."

The so-called feast was naturally for Knight Andrew and his father-in-law, the two knights. The squires were, of course, fortunate enough to attend, but Norn and the other levy troops shouldn't expect it.

The knight's stone house was filled with noise all night long. Many levy troops looked on enviously, hoping to enjoy some delicacies as well. But all they got was a large piece of dark bread and a cup of weak beer.

Jinn nibbled on the bread, his face calm, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Jinn!" Norn waved his hand cautiously from a dark corner in the distance, calling Jinn over.

Confused, Jinn stood up and walked towards Norn. Fortunately, everyone else was distracted by the commotion inside the stone house and didn't notice the two of them.

Looking at the puzzled Jinn, Norn first made a shushing gesture, then struck the mound of earth beside him.

The mound immediately cracked open, revealing a piece of tender chicken. A burst of aroma wafted out.

"You went to steal..."

Before Jinn could finish the word "chicken," a large drumstick was stuffed into his mouth. The rich flavors exploded on Jinn's tongue like an avalanche.

The tender chicken, the spicy onions, and the faint malt aroma instantly made Jinn forget the rest of his words, leaving only two words echoing in his mind.

"Delicious!"