Enemy Behind Us

Perhaps raising his proficiency with the Strong Bow was Ansen's own wish.

He probably knew he had no talent for swordsmanship and, seeing Li Ang control the battlefield with just a bow, likely developed the ambition to become a master archer—like the Horn Caller Rangers, becoming a Bow Knight...

My Doctor... If you really want to be a knight, raising your Iron Bones would be better than the Strong Bow...

Li Ang sighed. He had originally planned to quickly level up Ansen's healing skills to level 10 or so, but he hadn't expected things to become uncontrollable...

Li Ang had always valued medical treatment, as it could directly save lives. However, his own medical skill levels couldn't be upgraded and remained at level 1.

This was probably due to the medical common sense of a modern person.

Therefore, Li Ang really wanted to train Ansen into a master physician. That way, perhaps the wounded in the team could wake up from a nap and be fully revived, returning to their peak condition...

But reality was indeed not as simple as a game.

It seemed he still had to guide him personally...

"Ahem, Ansen... You should start your homework for today."

"Oh no... Lord... You can't do this!"

"Then how about you practice your medical skills on those prisoners? You can choose between practicing swordsmanship or healing, either counts as your homework for today."

"I... I'll go check on those prisoners... I hope Miss Sarah didn't beat them to death..."

That night, it rained heavily. The night was as dark as ink, with no stars in the sky, making it impossible to see anything.

The mercenary, skilled in underwater swimming, followed his memory and dove into the river. After a long search, he retrieved a noble knight sword.

This was indeed Li Ang's original sword, the one stolen by Liwa.

But how could it have ended up in the hands of this Gatu warlord?

From being stolen the night before last to being recovered, it had only been two days.

Did that Liwa run into the Gatu army by chance while fleeing?

Or was this Gatu unit just happening to be in Lion Lake City's territory yesterday?

Wait, wait.

Li Ang suddenly remembered Liwa's words: "My family used to be very famous in the weapon trade..."

Was there a possibility that this Liwa sold the sword to the Gatu people?

If that were the case...

An unbelievable thought popped into Li Ang's mind—could everything this Liwa had said be true?

If she could indeed trade with the Gatu people, and her surname was Fletcher...

Then was it possible that the current Liwa was indeed the daughter of a Count, as she claimed—except, she wasn't a recognized noble, but one who wasn't acknowledged...

After all, she did resemble Count Oden very much...

Although he couldn't quite figure it out, he still had to thank this crossbowman for helping him recover this 'heirloom'.

So Li Ang gave this swimming expert the right to choose his spoils of war freely.

He chose a warhorse that had been captured from the Crimson Brotherhood.

This transformed the mercenary crossbowman into a less-than-qualified mercenary rider—but nothing changed in the team roster.

This swimming expert claimed to be a good rider, but he could only guarantee that he wouldn't fall off the horse. His riding skills were only slightly weaker than Foucher's...

The next morning, the sky was overcast, and a light rain still fell.

The smoke signals from the direction of Brave Shield Fortress were no longer visible.

On the damp grass on the other side of the river, only mud pits from horse hooves remained.

The Gatu people were gone.

Not a single Gatu cavalryman from the other side of the river could be seen.

Only a few bodies remained, bare corpses, neatly arranged on the grass by the riverbank.

The Gatu people left cleanly. They took everything from the bodies, took the ownerless horses, and abandoned their logging efforts from yesterday—a small pile of debarked logs.

On the wooden wall of the camp, the Gatu warlord, who had woken up from his coma, muttered a few unintelligible words, then ignored Li Ang and Ansen, who was trying to feed him.

Li Ang took off his helmet and tried to converse with him, but the warlord remained silent, even refusing to open his eyes again.

Lord Li Ang was very confused—the Gatu people had the materials to build rafts, so why did they suddenly abandon their leader and retreat? They were perfectly capable of building rafts to cross the river.

Li Ang had already prepared to hold the warlord hostage to buy time.

However, just as Li Ang thought the camp should be temporarily safe, Sammer called out from the watchtower.

"Lord! A woman is running over... she looks a bit like Miss Lesley!"

"Is she alone?"

"Yes, Lord!!"

Was Lesley here to deliver the proceeds from selling the spoils of war?

It shouldn't be this way. We could have just had Karn and the others bring back the money after it was sold...

Li Ang only froze for a moment before he sprinted out of the camp to meet the female merchant. His intuition told him something had happened!

Lesley wasn't riding a horse. She clutched a dagger in her hand, her blue dress a blur as she ran through the rain, completely ignoring the mud and water splashing onto her.

"This way, Lesley!"

Li Ang shouted loudly. Lesley hadn't been to this camp before, and she looked like she was heading towards Fletcher Village.

Hearing Li Ang's voice, Lesley scrambled towards the camp entrance with all her might, shouting as she ran:

"Lord Li Ang! We've encountered Gatu people... at least two hundred of them! My brother and Karn are doing their best to hold them back in the mountains behind us, hurry... My Lord, please save them... They're not far to the south..."

Lesley was soaked through by the rain, her eyes red and swollen with terror. Her face was covered in water and mud. She barely managed to reach Li Ang before she'd explained everything.

She hadn't even caught her breath.

A strong woman; she hadn't cried.

But her tightly clenched fists and the bloodshot veins in her eyes still conveyed the fear and helplessness she felt.

Kloze had clearly heard Lesley's shouts as well and ran out of the camp, his greatsword strapped to his back. He hadn't taken off any of his gear since the fighting started yesterday.

"My Lord, I request to depart—I must rescue my kin."

Li Ang showed no hesitation at this moment. He couldn't afford to show fear or indecision now. He nodded, turned, and ran back towards the camp, shouting as he went:

"Gather your Charge Squad!"

Kloze froze for a moment, seemingly surprised that Li Ang would agree.

That was two hundred Gatu people!

He gave Li Ang a deep look before turning and shouting: "Charge Squad, assemble!"

Sammer, on the watchtower, was about to climb down to gather the troops when he seemed to sense something and looked back towards the south.

Everyone in the camp was already in motion, frantically donning their gear and forming ranks.

But Li Ang, who had gone to get his bow, sighed—two hundred Gatu people appearing behind them!

This meant that more than just the century he and Sarah had encountered had entered the heartland of Long River Town...

As he thought this, the troop list changed: Meitengheim Infantry, 10/10.

Damn it!

It was too late to go rescue the merchant caravan now...

Two Meitengheim people were dead!

If Lesley could run here, then the place where the merchant caravan was attacked must be very close to this camp. That Gatu force was likely heading for this camp in the first place!

This was because the location Li Ang occupied was a necessary route for the Gatu people who had entered the territory to return to the grasslands!

They might have attacked Lesley's merchant caravan to the south simply because they encountered them along the way...

The Gatu people were cavalry; they were probably already nearby!

Now, it seemed they would have to face the enemy head-on.

He had anticipated most scenarios, but he hadn't expected that the renowned Horn Summon Ranger Corps wouldn't be able to deal with the Gatu people who had entered Long River Town several days ago!

After all these days, how could Ralph, that useless man, let the Gatu people escape?

No wonder Sarah said Ralph had seemed hesitant and uneasy at the time