The Sixth Guard

In the main city of the Duchy of Will, Lister led the professionals behind him on a grand ride from the outer city all the way to the inner city.

The luxury of his new home in the royal city of Lucian was intoxicating, but Lister desired power even more.

After staying for just two days to experience it, he returned to the duchy today.

The people around them gave Lister's party a wide berth of their own accord.

Most of the looks they gave him were angry, though they dared not voice their anger.

Lister had only recently been promoted to viscount in the Duchy of Will, and his name seemed to have spread far and wide.

But that was only among people of a certain standing in the duchy.

For the common people at the bottom, the mere fact that he was a noble made it hard for them to have anything good to say about him.

Even if they did, it would be under temporary pressure at most.

Of course, Lister paid no attention to what the common people thought of him.

He had deliberately made a conspicuous return to the city today, not to show off to the people, but specifically for Duke Will to see.

"Who's that? He dares ride in an armed formation even in the inner city?"

"That's Viscount Merrick! Are you stupid? He was only just granted his title. Have you forgotten?"

"He's from the Seven Great Families! No wonder, then."

"But Viscount Merrick is the only one left in the Merrick Family now. How did he suddenly acquire such a formidable group of professionals?"

A number of passing nobles' carriages and horses pulled over to the roadside one after another, and their occupants began talking among themselves.

They were all curious about the red-armored guard of professionals behind Lister.

Every one of them sat proudly on horseback, their expressions calm. At a glance, they looked quite capable.

After all, the Duchy of Will did not have many professionals, unlike cities in the Kingdom of Lucian, which had a complete system for educating them.

Not many nobles had undergone professional training, and they could not discern the strength of the guard behind him.

In truth, Lister knew very well that the ten professionals were nothing special.

The Kingdom of Lucian's guards were forces the old king had left to each heir, who also served as their personal protection.

The Sixth Prince's guard was naturally called the Sixth Guard. When it was established, it had nearly a hundred professionals.

But Kavin, the Sixth Prince, had long since lost his right of succession, and he had never wanted to inherit the throne anyway.

He never paid the guard any attention, so its numbers had dwindled again and again since its founding.

The other heirs, on the other hand, had each devoted care to nurturing their guards, and they had developed well.

When they later went to their newly granted territories, their guards would also be their greatest support in quickly gaining control of the local forces.

Kavin needed none of that. At heart, he was the same kind of person as Lister, putting the development of his own strength first.

By now, the Sixth Guard had only ten professionals left.

Aside from their leader, who was a third-tier professional, the other nine were all second-tier professionals.

It had long since become a completely marginalized guard in the Kingdom of Lucian, and the one people were least willing to join. Before Lister took it over, the First Prince, Xius, had already planned to disband it.

Based on the Sixth Guard under Lister's command, the kingdom's many nobles had also mistakenly assumed that the Great Chu Imperial Dynasty, where he would soon be conducting diplomacy, was merely a minor power.

Of course, within Will City, this group already counted as a respectable little force.

Lister deliberately lingered conspicuously outside Duke Will's castle. When he saw no reaction, he returned to his own castle at a leisurely pace, looking slightly disappointed.

The state of his relationship with Duke Will had yet to become apparent within the duchy, but ever since the duke had sent a team of professionals to hunt him down last time, the two sides had effectively fallen out completely.

Outsiders in the city might not have understood Lister's actions today, but he himself knew that he was slapping Duke Will in the face.

Not only had he survived the last attempt on his life, he now even had a royal guard following him and was growing stronger and stronger!

At that moment, inside the duke's castle.

Will II, who was usually as steady as a mountain, had finally lost his composure today.

His face was livid, his gaze dark, and the teacup in his hand creaked under his tight grip.

"Crack!"

The cup suddenly shattered in his hand. Will II's hand was naturally unharmed.

"Father! We can't keep letting Lister do as he pleases."

"I suggest I personally lead a team to hunt him down this time! I guarantee that the next time he leaves Will City, he'll never return."

Walen was furious too. Both Kailina and the three people who had gone after Lister last time were professionals he had picked from the duke's castle, and they were also among the professionals there in whom he had invested the most attention and resources.

Now, the number of professionals he could actually call upon in the duke's castle had fallen sharply.

"Pfft."

In the quiet, a sudden snicker rang through the entire family hall.

"Morey! What are you laughing at?!"

"At a time like this, instead of helping Father find a way to ease the pressure on him, you act like that. Can you even call yourself a member of the Will Family?"

"Heh... hehehe..."

Morey had originally been holding back somewhat, but after hearing Walen's words, he laughed even louder.

"You...!!"

"What exactly are you laughing at?! Do you want to duel me?!"

Walen was instantly enraged. Ever since childhood, the person he had disliked most was his second brother, Morey Will, Duke Will's second heir in the line of succession.

Not only was Morey more talented as a professional than he was, he was smarter too.

Compared with his second brother, Walen seemed always to be a step behind.

Naturally, Walen regarded his second brother as his greatest rival on his path to becoming duke.

"Who else would I be laughing at, dear elder brother?"

"I never expected such far-fetched, childish words to come out of your mouth, elder brother."

"As for a duel, heh... I'll oblige you anytime."

Morey had the greatest talent as a professional in the entire Will Family. His current strength was on par with Will II's, so he could naturally trounce Walen with ease.

"How is it far-fetched? Are we supposed to just watch Lister damage the Will Family's reputation?"

"It's only the Merrick Family. If the Conner Family weren't backing them, they would have been wiped out long ago."

Walen was not very shrewd, and he often said whatever came to mind.

But as he spoke, the strange looks from his other younger brothers and sisters around him, along with the silent shake of his father's head from his seat, gradually made him wonder whether he really had said something wrong.

Still, he could not make sense of it. Lister was clearly just a third-tier professional with a bit of luck, and in his eyes, he was nothing at all.

"Walen, the people following Lister today were the Sixth Guard."

"So what? A guard made up of mere second-tier professionals dares throw its weight around in front of the Will Family?"

Morey had already addressed him by name and made his hint obvious enough, but unfortunately, Walen still failed to grasp what he meant.

Morey chuckled and shook his head again, then went on to explain it to Walen in detail.

"The Sixth Guard belongs to the Sixth Prince. Whatever the Sixth Prince thinks of that guard, the fact that Lister can command it means he must have the Lucian Royal Family's approval."

"Would you really dare slaughter a royal guard? Kill someone the Lucian Royal Family has approved?"

Morey had long since understood what Lister was relying on in putting on this display today. Even those of the other heirs who were a little slower to react had mostly caught on after Morey's first hint.

What he was now explaining in detail for Walen alone was also the real reason for Duke Will's fury: he could no longer make a move against Lister.

At last, Walen understood the crux of the matter.

Without the slightest embarrassment over his earlier impulsiveness and failure to understand, he continued naively.

"Father, Lister was just lucky!"

"The matter of the Sixth Guard might just be a coincidence. Let me deal with him..."

"Shut up!"

Will II could no longer bear to listen to his eldest son's nonsense. As he spoke up to interrupt him, he felt even more disappointed in him.

He now looked at his second son, Morey, hoping to hear a solution that would satisfy him.