Are We Friends?

Sarah was deeply uneasy. After she told Li Ang about Ralph's request, Li Ang merely nodded calmly and said to the ranger, "All right. I'll stay here and hold the line."

Then Li Ang pulled the reverent-looking ranger aside and quietly gave him some instructions.

After the ranger saluted and left, Li Ang had an extra bow on him—a rather good-looking one.

It seemed Li Ang really intended to stay here...

Otherwise, that ranger would never have handed his bow over to Li Ang.

"My lord, are we really going to hold the Tongtian River here...?"

Sarah did not want Li Ang to die here. He was the most unusual noble she had ever met.

"Sarah, since I initiated this deal, of course I have to hold this place until the deal is completed..."

The mercenary greed was gone from Li Ang's eyes. He looked more like a simple soldier now, though he was still talking about the principles of doing business.

Sarah was even more confused. A few days ago, he had been so scared of a Gatu hundred-man unit that he hid in the woods... How had this guy suddenly become a hero?

He even dared to challenge the Gatu army?

That did not seem right either. Just two days ago, he had still been swindling and conning people...

Had something provoked him?

"Sarah, this battle might be dangerous... Do you want to leave and take shelter somewhere?"

Li Ang's voice became gentle and low.

"No, my lord. There's no need..."

Sarah refused without hesitation, but a strange feeling rose in her heart. She heard a concern and worry in Li Ang's words that had not been there before.

"Then... Sarah... we're friends, right?"

Li Ang's expression grew increasingly serious. His heroic profile gazed into the distance, as though he were hesitating—or making some sort of decision.

Sarah's heart gave two violent thumps, nearly throwing her heartbeat into disarray. "Of course, my lord..."

"Then, could you..."

Li Ang turned his sincere gaze toward Sarah's taut face.

"Hm?"

Sarah was certain her heartbeat had gone haywire. Even on that winter night when she had killed more than a dozen men alone, she had not been this nervous.

She did not even notice that the sounds of fighting in the camp had stopped. A group of men poked their heads out from behind the wall, lined up, held their breath, and eavesdropped furtively.

"Could you lend me some money... I'm completely broke right now..."

Li Ang turned out his empty pockets.

The sound of a longsword being drawn rang out.

"Sarah... Ahhh, don't attack..."

"Get lost!!"

Up on the watchtower, Sammer, who had been watching the silent-movie version of the scene from afar, sighed and shook his head. "I knew it... How could you be so eager to doubt a lady...?"

But Li Ang, fleeing with his head in his hands, was grinning as he looked at the skill panel.

--Your "Command" skill has increased in level.

The afternoon was crisp and clear, without a cloud in the sky. The blue heavens and green grass spoke of life and beauty.

Yet the air carried a faint scent of gunpowder.

A massive warning smoke signal rose above Brave Shield Fortress.

Even from dozens of miles away, they could clearly see the black column of smoke rolling upward into the sky.

The neighboring Fletcher Village had already evacuated south as a whole. The villagers had lived along the border for a long time and naturally knew what to do when they saw warning smoke.

The wooden bridge had been repaired, and it now looked more or less complete.

Li Ang led several Meitengheim people onto it to test it. The planks looked a little thin, but they should barely be usable.

However, the wooden-pile piers beneath the bridge, which had originally been linked together by supporting timbers, now seemed to have all been separated.

Dozens of wooden piles had become individual pillars, making the structure look much simpler.

One end of the bridge was, naturally, on the other side of the river.

The other end was inside the camp.

So this camp was a genuine bridgehead.

A wooden wall had already been erected on the camp side facing the bridge. It had been crudely pieced together from the piles and planks removed from the original bridge supports.

The wall was not tall, only a little over two meters.

Even with the wooden arrow shields nailed at an angle along its top, it was probably only around three meters high.

But the wall was very thick, wide enough for two men to walk side by side atop it.

Rather than a wall, it was more like an earthen rampart. It completely blocked the bridge's exit, yet from afar, it looked like part of the bridge deck itself—as though the bridge extended into both sides of the camp.

After all, both the bridge and the wall were made of unpainted wooden boards, so there was little difference from a distance.

But the rampart sealed off the bridge deck tightly. Even Li Ang and the others had to be pulled up by the men on the wall if they wanted to leave the bridge.

Seeing this visual effect gave the soldiers present a measure of confidence.

Perhaps they really could hold this bridgehead until Ralph's reinforcements arrived.

Li Ang then gathered all his subordinates and began assigning tasks.

Everyone, including the carpenters, had their own duties, except for the bruised and battered Ansen and the unsettled Sarah.

After finishing the assignments, Li Ang watched his men scatter to work and felt that he had overlooked something.

"My lord, what about those prisoners?"

Ansen asked.

Right, the prisoners!

Li Ang looked at the two people beside him—one kind-hearted weakling and one woman with an unfriendly expression.

Forget it. He would handle it himself.

"...There's no time to move them now. I need to make sure they're completely unable to act, in case they cause some kind of trouble!"

Li Ang drew the spiked mace from his waist, planning to do the job personally.

Ansen opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing. Warning smoke filled the northeast like clouds, and a powerful enemy was close at hand. No matter how softhearted he was, he knew where the line was.

But Sarah snatched the mace away, stared at Li Ang, and revealed a chilling gleam in her eyes.

She even weighed the mace in her hand...

"Sarah, I was only joking last night... Everyone was conned out of everything they had the day before yesterday, and today we're about to face a powerful enemy. They might be resentful—I had to act like I was so poor that I was borrowing money everywhere, so they'd feel more balanced. It was for morale... Don't take it to heart... Give me the mace."

Li Ang awkwardly explained with a placating smile. He had only just figured out why his Command skill had leveled up.

"Mm, it was a joke. I don't mind... But you're the lord. You shouldn't do this sort of dirty work yourself..."

The icy look in Sarah's eyes did not change in the slightest. She ground out those two sentences through clenched teeth, then carried the mace into the barracks where the prisoners were held.

Soon, wave after wave of miserable screams rang out from inside.

"A joke! So you think that's a joke!... Friends! Hmph... Don't run! Stick your leg out! I'll teach you to joke!..."

Sarah's voice mixed with the screams, sounding particularly harmonious.

Li Ang and Ansen looked at each other.

Ansen muttered, "Terrifying woman... My lord, didn't you study the books I gave you properly?"

"Shut up, Ansen... Wait, is that trembling?"

Li Ang was not mistaken. The bridge deck had indeed begun to shake.

A few seconds later, even on the ground, they could clearly feel the vibrations.

They grew heavier and heavier, drawing closer and closer.

Sammer shouted from the watchtower, "Enemy attack! North!"

The Gatu people had arrived!

It was a cavalry force of around three hundred men, divided into three hundred-man units.

Hooves thundered closer, then the force came to a crashing halt on the northern bank of the Tongtian River.

The clatter of quivers against horses, the harsh scrape of sabers leaving sheaths, and the shrill neighing of horses all intertwined.

A murderous atmosphere rushed toward them.

The Gatu cavalry across the river began sending men to patrol along the riverbank. Several cavalrymen carrying spears raced back and forth beside the water.

The main force gathered on the far side of the river, directly at the other end of the bridge.

"Everyone, stay quiet! Prepare for battle!"