I Offer You My Loyalty

I Offer You My Loyalty

On the second floor of the Castle, Yagna lifted a corner of the curtain and silently watched the fully armed, high-spirited Horse Bandits below.

In truth, she had once doubted their true identities.

Although Lynn's handsome, refined bearing and domineering manner matched her impression of a high-ranking noble, the men he had brought with him were truly hard to praise.

No matter how much Lynn stressed discipline, Horse Bandits were still Horse Bandits.

That bandit-like air was not something that could simply be concealed.

During the days Lynn had spent inspecting the northern forest, Yagna had watched all sorts of behavior from the Horse Bandits.

They spoke crudely, shouted excessively, drank heavily, and would even start brawling on the spot over the slightest disagreement.

Of course, proper knights were not much better these days.

Yagna had seen all manner of ugly behavior and bad habits among the knights at the duke's Castle.

Yet her instincts told her that Lynn's subordinates were different from the knights she had seen before.

But she could not put that difference into words.

Yagna had been well protected throughout her life.

She had either lived in the small Castle of Shallow Beach Territory or received her education at the duke's court. She had never truly experienced the dangers of society, so naturally, she had never seen living, breathing Horse Bandits.

She felt that Lynn's men did not seem to come from the wealthy and prosperous Cold Wind Valley. They did not seem reliable enough, and perhaps they would not be able to help her achieve her revenge.

That was also one of the reasons she had been unwilling to fully submit to Lynn.

But now, as more than twenty rugged men of the Northern Border stood in neat ranks on the small square at the center of the Castle, clad in armor and armed to the teeth, the killing intent naturally emanating from them made her ashamed.

She had actually doubted the true identities of these knights?

Their fine equipment clearly came from a wealthy region.

And their bearing was in no way inferior to the Marsh Duke's guard knights. They were undoubtedly first-rate knights of the Northern Border.

"I'm sorry. I was too shallow."

Yagna quietly apologized for her earlier shortsightedness.

Then, she focused her gaze on Lynn in the center of the square.

The young, handsome baron wore a gleaming full suit of chainmail. He held a large blue banner snapping in the wind in his right hand, carried a Heavy Crossbow of gleaming steel on his left shoulder, and sat astride a snow-white steed like a majestic lion king inspecting his domain.

He inspired awe at first sight.

"Mount up! Hunt the bear!"

At Lynn's command, the Horse Bandits mounted one after another. Even the scraping of their chainmail was perfectly uniform.

The Horse Bandits might usually seem slovenly and carefree, but once they donned armor, they could seamlessly transform into a well-trained elite squad with strict discipline.

Lynn had spent enormous amounts of time and money training these Horse Bandits over the past few years.

He fed them well, never stopped drilling them, and equipped them with the finest weapons and armor available on the market.

Most of the money he had earned as the leader of the Horse Bandits had been invested in them.

You reaped what you sowed, and Lynn's returns were naturally astonishing.

His band of Horse Bandits had roamed the Northern Border without ever failing.

If he expanded his army in the future, these twenty-odd men would make excellent junior officers and could quickly raise a combat-ready force.

Just as Lynn was about to lead his men out of the city to hunt the Demon Bear, Yagna's urgent voice suddenly rang out from inside.

"Please wait!"

Lynn handed the banner to Second Brother beside him, reined in his horse, and looked back.

A blonde girl in a blue dress came rushing out of the Castle.

Faced with the yellow muddy ground covered in puddles, she did not hesitate. Lifting her heavy skirt, she skipped toward Lynn like a little deer.

Moments later, the girl ran up to Lynn, panting. "My lord."

Lynn said nothing. He merely stared into the girl's clear gray-green eyes.

A trace of hesitation still lingered in her eyes, difficult to dispel.

In an instant, her gaze shifted, and that trace of hesitation faded swiftly like morning mist pierced by sunlight.

"My lord, when you return victorious, I will offer you my loyalty."

Yagna knew all too well how dangerous it was to hunt magical beasts. Even among the Marsh Duke's elite personal guards, men occasionally died beneath the claws and fangs of magical beasts.

But she could not stop a Lord from protecting his territory and Local residents.

All she could do was offer herself as Spoils of War to the warrior returning in triumph.

Lynn looked at the girl and smiled faintly. "All right. Wait for my return."

At around two in the afternoon, Lynn led twenty-five subordinates to Manor No. 5 at the westernmost edge of his territory.

The damage was less severe than he had imagined.

"My lord, that magical beast only appeared in Spruce Village for about an hour. It destroyed two farmhouses, ate the grain inside, and devoured seven sheep. Fortunately, it was daytime, so no serfs were killed or injured."

Seeing how elite his lord's troops were, the manor steward could not help but breathe a sigh of relief as he reported the damage.

Lynn then hurried to Spruce Village without stopping.

This quiet little village lay west of Manor No. 5. Two hundred meters west of the village stretched a vast, boundless forest.

The village was tiny, with only twenty households of serfs and a population barely exceeding a hundred.

By then, the serfs had long since fled to another village within the manor.

Lynn walked to the westernmost end of the village, where he saw two damaged farmhouses with their roofs torn away.

At the entrances of the farmhouses lay scattered grain and bloodstains covering the ground.

Most eye-catching of all were the enormous, deep claw marks on the walls.

After examining the claw marks on the wall and the footprints on the ground, Second Brother walked over to Lynn. "Big Brother, this Demon Bear really is seven meters tall. It might be larger than any magical beast we've hunted before."

Lynn was crouching on the ground, staring thoughtfully at a strand of white fur more than thirty centimeters long.

Hearing Second Brother's voice, he stood and turned to ask, "Are you afraid?"

"Not afraid."

Second Brother's eyes held nothing but fierce fighting spirit.

"Big Brother, why would we fear a beast? Even if that beast grows to ten meters tall, we can still take it down."

Lao Si and Lao Wu also came over, each with a strand of snow-white Demon Bear fur clenched between his teeth, looking exceedingly imposing.

Their confidence came from their extensive experience hunting magical beasts, their own formidable strength, and, above all, the sturdy backbone of their team.

"This Demon Bear probably just woke from hibernation. It caught the scent of horses and sheep and found Spruce Village. After eating its fill, it went back to sleep." After a brief investigation, Lynn deduced the Demon Bear's movements.

"Then do we charge into its lair?" Lao Si rubbed his hands together, utterly fearless.

"No. The forest is too complicated. We'll wait for it in Spruce Village. It has already tasted grain and livestock, so it will definitely come back. If its habits are like those of ordinary bears, it will most likely return this evening."

Lynn chose to set a trap in Spruce Village and wait for the prey to come to him.

Though the village serfs had fled, they had left their livestock and grain behind.

Having acquired a taste for it, the Demon Bear would certainly return when it caught the pungent scent of livestock.