Return

Sean's hunting party returned swiftly. In barely half an hour, they were back at the camp from which they had set out. Representing the lord in the New Year Hunt, they had also brought back a great deal of game.

This naturally delighted Sean's father, Viscount Winchester. The senior figures of the territory gathered around the lord promptly began praising Jamie, Sean, and the others. Some of their words were so nauseatingly flattering that Sean could not help frowning, while their Lord Viscount was overjoyed and immediately ordered the attendants beside him to select fresh game from their haul to add some wild meat to the camp's lunch. This instantly sparked another round of sickening flattery and excited cheers.

The other hunting parties also returned to camp one after another to prepare lunch. That morning's hunt had gone very smoothly, with no accidents. Every team had brought back some game, though their overall hauls were smaller than Sean's party's.

After a simple lunch, Sean's group continued deeper into the forest to hunt. In order to carry as much game as possible, their numbers had increased to around fifty. This time, Sean did not linger around the forest's outskirts, but led the party directly into its depths. After the morning's hunt, the amount of prey around the forest's edge was bound to have decreased sharply.

After entering the depths of the forest, the hunting party successfully brought down several Short-horned Deer and Forest Sheep. However, the carcasses also attracted a huge Southern Wilderness Brown Bear. It was a fully grown brown bear, nearly four meters tall when standing upright and weighing almost a ton. Its immense strength could easily snap trees as thick as buckets.

The brown bear let out a thunderous roar and charged at Sean's group on all fours. As it raced forward, bushes and young trees along its path were crushed beneath it. The ground trembled faintly with heavy vibrations, while a nauseating stench of blood and rot enveloped the entire hunting party.

Sean and the others had spotted the brown bear the moment it appeared. Guards immediately shielded Jamie as he slowly retreated, while Sean gripped his powerful bow with an arrow nocked, ready to attack at any moment. The taut bowstring creaked continuously as Sean pulled it back with all his strength until it formed a perfect full moon. As the brown bear charged, Sean released the full-drawn string in his hand. A feathered arrow shot like lightning toward the vital point of the bear, which was charging like a tank, followed by a massive roar laced with pain.

The arrow pierced through the bear's paw, which it had instinctively raised to block. Sean's gaze remained calm and undisturbed as he skillfully loosed a second arrow. The arrow was still like a phantom, flying toward the brown bear's left eye in an instant. After another brief, piercing scream, the arrow buried itself to the fletching in the bear's left eye, driving straight into its brain. At the same time, the earth shook with the enormous crash of a huge body hitting the ground.

When the Guard Cavalry saw the brown bear fall dead in an instant, they froze briefly before bursting into victorious cheers. A ferocious beast like an adult Southern Wilderness Brown Bear could only be killed by a powerful knight. Hunting such beasts had always meant paying for it with lives, yet this time, no one had even been injured. This made the cavalry regard Sean's youthful yet calm face with even greater respect.

"God... my brother, you... you killed such a huge monster with only two arrows..." Jamie returned to Sean's side and spoke in a tone filled with excitement and disbelief. After a pause, he gestured at the massive brown bear carcass before him. "This beast is so huge, so... God..."

"My dear brother. It is our shared spoils of war..." Sean said with a faint smile, his gaze calm as he looked at Jamie.

"Ah... of course, my dear brother. This truly is the best spoils of war of the day..." Jamie said happily after a brief pause. He instantly understood Sean's meaning. Once such a massive beast was brought back to camp, it would surely cause a sensation throughout the entire camp. With a little guidance afterward, the tale could spread across the entire family territory. This would greatly increase the vassals' reverence for the Lord's Manor and also deter bandits at the territory's borders.

To transport the brown bear's corpse back, the guards cut down several small trees and built a simple stretcher. Two Warhorses then dragged it along. Since it was still early, Sean and Jamie discussed it and decided to lead the hunting party on a large detour before returning to camp.

After more than two hours of stopping and moving, the party finally returned to the camp from which they had set out. Along the way, they had added much more game to their haul. Besides nearly thirty Short-horned Deer and Forest Sheep, there was also a half-ton Tusked Wild Boar and a Striped Leopard, known as a jungle killer, beside the stretcher carrying the brown bear.

The Striped Leopard had an exceptionally beautiful coat, and Sean immediately decided to give it to his mother as a gift. At the same time, the camp erupted in loud gasps and cheers.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was Wednesday, January 27. A fine, threadlike rain began falling early that morning.

More than half a month had passed since the New Year Hunt. Since that day, tales had spread throughout the territory of how the lord had bravely fought ferocious beasts. As for why it was the lord? Naturally, the many people in the know had all spread the same story. Could there possibly be an idiot who would step forward to clarify that the lord had merely been drinking tea in the camp?

During this period, Sean focused solely on knight training and worked hard to improve his practical combat skills. In his remaining time, he supervised Thor's various training exercises at the Castle Guard's training grounds while also guiding his horsemanship training.

Sean's mother had quite a few complaints about his single-minded training to the point of neglecting food and sleep, but she also understood his intentions. Torn with worry, she could only remind Sean to rest properly, making him feel the warmth of family.

This journey back to the family had brought Sean the attendant Thor and the family's full support. He had gained greatly from it, but what pleased him even more was the improvement in his relationship with his father and brother.

Sean planned to set off tomorrow and return to Linshui City. He needed to report to Lieutenant Colonel Merkel before February arrived. Thus, after completing his knight training that afternoon, his attributes had become:

Strength: 2.431

Constitution: 2.439

Agility: 2.640

Ever since Sean's agility had surpassed 2.5, his senses could give him a general impression of objects he touched. For example, whenever he held a Knight sword, his senses conveyed a feeling of hardness. Sean continuously tested various weapons and discovered that the stronger the sensation of hardness, the better the weapon's material. Later, Sean accidentally touched a poisonous vine, and his senses gave him a faint feeling of danger. This left Sean somewhat amused and helpless. He seemed to have become a human poison-testing machine.

At dinner that day, Sean bid farewell to his family. He once again explained the reasons to his mother, and only after his father joined in persuading her did he manage to convince her to accept the fact that he had no choice but to leave early. This made the atmosphere at dinner somewhat heavy.

After dinner, Sean went to Viscount Winchester's study at his father's invitation. After entering the room, Viscount Winchester gestured for Sean to sit down and spoke in a somewhat low voice. "My child, I am very happy to see you grown and mature, to see that you possess accomplishments and talent. That is very good... Now, you are going to pursue your own ideals. The family cannot give you strong support within the military. Everything... you must handle carefully yourself..."

"Father, I will act carefully. Please rest assured." Sean answered respectfully, his tone equally subdued.

"Very good. As for you... I am still very reassured. If you encounter any difficulties, you can write back..." Viscount Winchester said with a smile. After pausing, his expression turned serious as he continued, "I wrote a letter to your uncle and asked him to look after you. If you have any questions, you can seek his advice. But remember... the final decision must still be made by you personally... Do you understand?"

"I understand... I will consider the opinions of others, but I will not let other people's opinions determine my life." Sean replied with an equally serious expression and a low voice.

"Very good. The family has prepared five hundred gold coins for you. Take them with you tomorrow as well... Your mother and I are both still in good health, so you need not worry. We both hope that after you achieve something, you will return to visit us..." Viscount Winchester said as he looked at Sean, his tone carrying an indescribable meaning. Sean said nothing, merely nodding heavily with a firm expression.

Afterward, the two spoke about some lighter matters, and only then did Sean take his leave.

The next morning, Thursday, January 28. The sky was oppressively overcast, as though rain might fall at any moment.

Sean and Thor's luggage had already been loaded onto the carriage. Viscount Winchester dispatched thirty Guard Cavalry to escort Sean back to Linshui City. After breakfast, Sean said farewell to his family one by one. Under his mother's tearful, reluctant gaze, Sean mounted his horse and set out for Linshui City with Thor, the Guard Cavalry, and the carriage carrying their luggage.

Several hours later, the mounted party arrived at Golden Wolf Ridge. After Sean had captured more than a dozen bandit prisoners here last time, his father had used the prisoners' information to launch a surprise attack on the bandits' lair, wiping out the gang in one stroke. The survivors had all become slaves within the family territory. In the Empire, lords had the right to reduce criminals such as bandits to slavery. Bandits and slaves alike had no rights whatsoever.

"Young master, was this where you were attacked by bandits last time?" Thor had heard Sean mention the bandits of Golden Wolf Ridge before. As they happened to be passing through now, he looked around alertly and asked.

"Yes, but there are no bandits here for the time being." Sean looked at Thor's nervous expression and replied with some amusement, though his tone carried a trace of regret.

"Oh... why aren't there any... Young master, I was just thinking about guarding against a bandit attack..." Thor said somewhat unwillingly after hearing Sean's words. After speaking, he seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

Sean smiled and said nothing more. He knew that after undergoing knight training, Thor had developed an arrogant, inflated mindset due to the rapid growth of his strength. Generally, this mentality only appeared during the early stages of training. Once the growth of one's strength slowed, that arrogance and inflation naturally faded away. It was very common in the process of gaining power. Sean's mounted party crossed the Dorosun River without incident and entered an inn in North Bank Town at dusk to rest. After dinner, Sean practiced the Knight Secret Method as usual, and Thor trained alongside him as well.