Raimondo

In a mountain forest north of the Lake of Praying Stars, the Gnoll Rogus, leading hundreds of carefully selected guards and carrying a large amount of wealth and valuable items, cautiously moved through it.

A Gnoll who had followed Rogus for a long time was filled with doubt. Watching them drift further and further from the main force, he suppressed his fear and asked, "Leader, why are we leaving the main force, carrying the treasury, and deviating from our original plan to leave from the north?"

Rogus, who was riding on the back of a Gnoll and had only one arm, opened his eyes. His fierce gaze made the inquiring Gnoll flinch, and he immediately regretted his decision.

"I suspect Dolago, who went missing, has fallen into human hands. Our original evacuation plan has been exposed, and with so many human captives during our retreat, do you think those human nobles will let us leave the border safely?"

The Gnoll, whose intelligence was lacking, was even more confused, but he was very sensible and nodded in agreement.

Rogus looked at the fool who pretended to understand with disdain, waved his hand, and told him to go to the back and not appear before him.

He looked up at the sky, silently calculating the distance.

"Two more days, and we can leave this place."

This journey, where he served as cannon fodder, made him firmly believe that he would never do it again.

Upon returning, Rogus decided to use two-thirds of his wealth to bribe the clan elders, improve his status and strength, and avoid being chosen as the leader of the cannon fodder next time.

Clutching his missing severed arm, Rogus's eyes turned fierce.

"The revenge for my severed arm will be repaid tenfold."

On the other side, Velin dispatched six Silver Knights and twelve Knight Squires, leaving the Lake of Praying Stars and heading north towards Gray Mist Mountain.

Compared to the rapid increase in territorial strength in a short period, Velin valued the thirty years of safe development time more.

For this reason, he brought all the Seven-Colored Life Flowers with him, just in case.

Gray Mist Mountain was over a hundred kilometers away from the Lake of Praying Stars. Traveling at full speed, it would only take one day to reach it.

The journey was smooth, with no monsters encountered except for a few foolish Goblins.

"My Lord, it should be here."

Velin urged his horse forward, looking at the thousand-meter-high mountain shrouded in mist, feeling deeply awestruck.

"It's getting late, let's set up camp here and search the mountain tomorrow morning."

Afterward, the twelve Knight Squires began setting up the camp, feeding the horses, and starting fires to cook. The six Silver Knights patrolled the surroundings, driving away wild beasts.

There was still one day before the Legendary Mage arrived.

Velin sat on a large rock, closed his eyes, and followed the ball of light in his heart to roughly sense the location and distance of the Legendary Mage's drop.

"Northwest, two kilometers away," Velin opened his eyes and said with deep eyes, looking into the distance.

"My Lord, the tents are set up," a Knight Squire came to Velin's side and reported respectfully.

Looking at this young man, who had already reached the strength of a mid-level Knight Squire.

"You are Cyril, Belder's Knight Squire," Velin stood up and said gently.

Cyril stood up straight, his eyes filled with respect and joy, and said excitedly, "Yes, my Lord."

"Good, you have great talent. I hope you continue to work hard."

"My Lord, I will definitely do so."

Velin patted the excited young man and slowly walked towards the tent.

Upon entering the tent, Velin put down the Knight's Shortsword he was carrying and took off his heavy armor, feeling the cool air as he sat on the blanket.

"It seems Belder's education is starting to have an effect."

Logically, the vassals of vassals are not my vassals, but Velin found this system quite repulsive. He did not want his subordinates to form uncontrollable military cliques.

At this stage, without a complete education system, he could only rely on this master-disciple system.

Once it developed to a certain extent, he would adopt his family's approach: one group responsible for training, another group responsible for combat, and their sole loyalty would be to him.

Half an hour later, a Silver Knight brought a bowl of meat soup to Velin's tent and placed it on the low wooden table.

"My Lord, there are no dangers around."

Velin did not eat first but looked at the Silver Knight, Raimondo, and said calmly, "Raimondo, I remember you came from a merchant background."

"My Lord is correct. Thanks to the family's nurturing and your cultivation, I have been able to reach this point," Raimondo replied respectfully, his eyes showing a different emotion.

"Next, I intend for you to relearn your family's skills. Are you willing?"

Raimondo fell silent upon hearing this, his heart filled with struggle.

Velin was not in a hurry and quietly watched him, waiting for him to make a decision.

If he was unwilling, it would not be too late for Velin to start cultivating a caravan leader. That Cyril was quite intelligent.

Raimondo, born a merchant and the third son of his family, was chosen to become a Knight Squire due to his talent and gold coins. He received training at Windsor Castle and later served in the Seventh Knight Regiment of Eagle Territory.

He recalled his father's earnest teachings: being a merchant had no future; only by becoming a high-ranking noble was the right path, the noblest path.

Unknowingly, more than ten minutes passed. After a fierce internal struggle, Raimondo finally knelt on the ground and said, "If my Lord needs it, Raimondo will obey."

Receiving this unexpected answer, Velin was stunned and re-examined the Guardian Knight before him.

The family's twelve knights were given their due, but while they paid more attention to Belder, Andro, Randolph, and Greg, they knew little and felt even less closeness to the other eight.

"Once a Guardian Knight, always a Guardian Knight," Velin calmly told Raimondo. "If you are unwilling in the future, you can report to me at any time, and I will make other arrangements."

"Yes, my lord."

Afterward, Velin and Raimondo chatted about things from his hometown.

After Raimondo left, Velin picked up the slightly cooled meat soup and slowly savored it.

"The caravan members have been decided. Next, we'll pioneer the caravan, sell rock salt, and develop the territory's pillar industries."

However, before that, he needed to personally travel to Kadlo Province for a trade run. This would serve two purposes: first, to foster relationships with other nobles in the province and gather intelligence, and second, to establish trade routes and ideally create reciprocal caravan routes to avoid paying customs and road taxes multiple times.

The next morning, Velin left a few people to guard the camp and led the rest towards the northwest, preparing to welcome their guardian deity for the next thirty years.

At the same time, several hundred gnolls emerged from the mountains and were resting more than ten kilometers away from Gray Mist Mountain.