Chapter 31: The Northern Combat Race Are Just a Bunch of Old Russians
In the civilian district east of the city, at a corner of some alley, there was an inconspicuous small door. This door was so hidden that as long as it remained closed, almost no one could find it. But now, the door had been opened, and the sound of people talking came from behind it.
"Joshua... my lord, have you really already killed Mozer?"
Nolan, a gray-haired, purple-eyed stalker and one of the next-generation heirs of the Wilson family, should have been spending this winter in her own small manor, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace and abundant food. But due to her family brother's reckless and blind actions, she was forced to come to the main city of Moldavia, enduring the cold wind and blizzard to gather intelligence, or even stay in a cramped room... facing a monster like the one before her.
"I don't think someone cut in half can still live. Ah, by the way, your brother here wasn't weak; his dying punch was quite heavy."
The tall man before her had rough black hair and black-red pupils, his expression expressionless. Though not handsome, he possessed a unique charm of a hard-lined man. Every word and action of this man named Joshua was like the beat of a heavy drum, bringing an oppressive force that made it hard to breathe. His gaze shifted, staring directly into the girl's eyes, with no warmth in them, only a sharp, cold pressure like steel: "Where is Chris? Didn't you bring him to this safe house?"
After speaking, he crossed his arms, waiting for the stalker's answer.
"No, no, no. He... he left on his own."
Feeling genuine fear, Nolan thought her throat was dry, her mind in a mess. Under instinct, she subconsciously scanned her surroundings. This was a safe house she had carefully chosen—hidden, inconspicuous, and very suitable for escape. The window behind her and the fireplace on the left could be broken through with a light push to leave the house. Then, using skills like [Existence Erasure], [Human Concealment Technique], and [Deep Stalking], she could escape.
"Speak."
Two light words vibrated Nolan's eardrums, bringing her consciousness back to her body. The rationality that had been scattered by fear re-coalesced. The girl snapped back to reality and couldn't help but sigh lightly—thinking was fine, but facing a Gold-rank, a powerful warrior who could kill another Gold-rank, if she dared to make the slightest move, the next moment her head would be crushed by a heavy punch.
She was still young and didn't plan to become a headless knight. Since that was the case, she might as well speak.
"About two and a half hours ago, Chris seemed to receive some magical short message, and then insisted on leaving. I had no position or reason to stop him, so I let him go. But he did leave a letter for you, on the table next to you. I didn't read it or touch it."
"Another letter."
Under Nolan's careful gaze, the black-haired warrior's mood inexplicably worsened. He frowned, walked to the table, and picked up the letter: "We were brothers. Since he didn't target me, I didn't plan to kill him. Why run so fast? It's inexplicable."
Right, you, sir, didn't plan to kill me, but my legs still go weak when I talk to you!
"From what he casually said, it should be that his merchant guild and alchemy workshop in the southern empire had some problems, which is why he left in such a hurry..."
Regretting in her heart, she carefully explained. Nolan suddenly felt that Chris, this alchemist, truly deserved to be a spellcaster; his intelligence was indeed higher than hers. He knew to find any excuse to leave early in the chaos, while she foolishly stayed in the safe house, not knowing when to leave. How stupid.
"Forget it, his matters don't matter."
Putting the letter into his chest, Joshua turned to look at the gray-haired stalker, revealing a smile that was definitely not friendly: "Next, let's talk about the Wilson family supporting my dead uncle, causing great losses to the main city."
"This..."
"If you don't want me to come knocking on your door, you'd better think carefully before speaking. Alright, Miss Nolan, let's sit down and talk."
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Year 831 of the Falling Stars, Winter, November 6th, Black Forest Fortress, a rare sunny day.
The winter sunlight wasn't warm, but it at least brought a bit of heat. For the knights on patrol, it was indeed good weather.
But inside the fortress's meeting room, it was completely different, filled with an awkward silence.
This was a room built of white stone. A black-and-gold spaced carpet covered the hall. A long brown pinewood table was placed in the center. Several powerful knights in armor sat around the table, all with their heads down, silent.
"Silver Knights, fifty-five. Elite Northern War Cavalry, one hundred and twenty."
On the left side of the meeting room, someone finally broke the silence. The speaker was a tall warrior in a masked helmet, his voice somewhat muffled by the helmet. He spoke word by word: "Half the fortress's forces, fully armed, fully prepared, ready to depart at any time."
"Mage group, sixteen people, including nine Radiant Priests, six Silver Mages, and one Frost Sorcerer."
The second to speak was a white-haired old man on the right side of the table. He wore a monocle and held a magic copper staff, with a fierce look. At first glance, he looked more like a warrior than a mage. His voice almost leaked through gritted teeth: "All trigger scrolls are fully loaded. If fired, they could at least collapse a section of the city wall."
"Kili, Von, you two big men, stop your nonsense and speak properly!"
A heavy slap on the table sounded. At the front of the table, a middle-aged knight with golden hair snorted angrily and shouted: "No matter how much you've prepared, none of it is needed now! Moving so slowly, you still dare to take your salaries, still dare to claim loyalty to the old lord!"
"Zorgen, don't think just because you're the fortress guard captain, I won't dare to fight you!"
Immediately, a loud crash. The masked knight stood up, slamming the table, pointing at the golden-haired middle-aged knight's nose and angrily said: "Wasn't it you who ordered to wait and see the situation first? Now you're pretending to be prescient. If you had the guts, why didn't you send troops then to take back the main city!"
"That's right! Don't think just because I'm a mage, I can't fight. I, Von Lawrence, will say this today: Northerners have never been unable to wield a sword! If you don't explain yourself clearly, let's go outside and duel right now!"
The white-haired mage threw his staff aside, rolled up his mage robe, revealing a muscular arm full of scars and wounds. Judging by the muscles, he could at least kill a bear with his bare hands. This Northern-style mage, a dual-class of Evoker and Berserker, summoned a Fireball in his hand without a second thought, looking like he was about to throw it at any moment.
The meeting room instantly shifted from extreme stillness to extreme motion. Seeing that the three fortress management officials were about to break into a duel in the meeting room over a disagreement, their subordinates, long accustomed to this, immediately stepped forward to hold back these combat-race-born individuals, offering words of persuasion.
After a commotion, the three highest-ranking officials of the fortress—the guard captain, the mage group mentor, and the knight group leader—had vented some emotions and calmed down a bit.
"Disgrace!"
Another heavy slap on the table. This time, it was the white-haired mage named Von who acted first, his expression looking very pained: "This is a great disgrace!"
"As a knight, not only can I not bring glory to my lord, but I also lost the main city!"
The masked knight, though his face was invisible, had a voice full of regret: "If the lord were still alive... ah!"
"You two, don't say anymore. Who could have thought that Young Master Joshua... the new lord, would be so formidable!"
Sighing, the golden-haired middle-aged knight Zorgen also looked puzzled: "It's really strange. The young master, no, the lord, as long as he came to Black Forest Fortress, even if it meant ignoring the Black Tide, we would have mobilized all our forces to take back the main city. Why did he have to act alone? We didn't receive any news. If it weren't for Elson sending back word, we wouldn't have known the lord had returned from the Black Crow Legion."
"The lord alone can easily kill twenty or thirty Silver Knights and take the main city with one hand. What use are we useless people?"
Snorting coldly, Kili adjusted his masked helmet and said in a muffled voice: "A knight who cannot share his lord's burdens and even makes his lord personally face danger—I am so ashamed I want to kill myself. I only pray the Black Tide comes soon, so I can kill a few more magical beasts and wash away this disgrace with their blood!"
"Now, quickly send the city guard back. The main city needs them to maintain order."
With this final command, the discussions and arguments in the meeting room came to an end.
Similar exclamations like those in Black Forest Fortress spread throughout the Moldavia Territory. The territorial knights everywhere, and even the dwarves living among them, were equally shocked by this news.