Horse Lover

"So, Ralph, you're no longer the commander of the city guard?"

Long River Town nominally belonged to the so-called 'child' in Madam Bella's womb, but in reality, it had completely fallen into Duke Alma's hands. It was unlikely Oden's men could stay there any longer.

"Yes, Lord. I was never a knight of the kingdom to begin with... I was only entrusted by the Count to oversee defense and deployment. Now, all the Ranger Corps members serving in Long River Town have been dismissed by Madam Bella. The garrison has been replaced by Duke Alma's men."

Ralph was clearly unwilling but helpless. "Lord, even though we all know this was Duke Alma's scheme, all his actions are legally and morally sound. Even if we have any grievances, we can't have the Ranger Corps attack our own hometown..."

Indeed, it was quite sound.

Having an illegitimate son contact the Gatu people, using the Gatu to lure the Long River Town Horn Caller Rangers to put out fires everywhere, and then having the Gatu army gather at Brave Shield Fortress, forcing Ralph's entire army to leave their post.

Then, taking Long River Town with a group of so-called 'rebels'—if nothing unexpected happened, these rebels would be pirates or from the Crimson Brotherhood.

Finally, the great Grand Duke Alma personally led his army, swept away the 'rebels' in Long River Town, and 'timely saved' Madam Bella's life.

Then, as a benefactor and close friend, he would raise Madam Bella and the so-called 'posthumous child' obtained from who-knows-where...

Who knew what kind of brutal ability a fifty-year-old woman possessed to conceive a child with an old man who was half-paralyzed...

In any case, all the bad deeds were done by the Crimson Brotherhood's thugs. Duke Alma quickly quelled the chaos and even earned the gratitude of the Long River Town citizens who didn't know the truth—if Li Ang hadn't 'prophesied' in advance, Ralph would probably have remained in the dark.

But now, no one could do anything about Duke Alma. He had left almost no leverage.

--Except for those few Crimson Brotherhood prisoners.

"Alas, Ralph, I suggest you focus on developing your territory on the border first... Let's talk about our transaction—I have a few prisoners here who might be useful to Count Oden."

The transaction was essentially settled. Ralph readily gave Li Ang a good price—twenty sets of Horn Caller Ranger equipment, and enough food to sustain fifty people through the entire winter.

Yes, no Dinar, as Ralph himself wasn't wealthy and had just lost his job.

Although there was no gold coin, these "green hat" equipments were valuable. This camp alone wasn't worth this much. Ralph had included the prisoners in the deal.

As Count Oden's most trusted subordinate, he knew the value of these prisoners to Oden in the current situation.

Ralph would turn this place into a Ranger Corps outpost—as long as he wished, Count Oden could grant him a knighthood at any time and bestow this place as his knightly domain.

He was indeed like Li Ang had thought, disliking the scheming of nobles but willing to achieve merit on the border.

Afterward, Raphael, the Ranger who lent Li Ang his bow, led about a hundred men dressed in Gatu attire.

He was to follow Li Ang and Ralph's original plan and make a round near Lion Lake City.

Before, they had only planned to frame them; now, it was both framing and revenge.

Hopefully, Oden could also seize the opportunity to be shameless.

With Gatu corpses and horses littering the ground, the Rangers quickly disguised themselves as about a hundred Gatu attackers.

"You should wear this."

Li Ang handed his blood-covered helmet to Raphael.

"Ah, yes, this is a Gatu warlord's helmet! Lord, is this considered a gift exchange between us? I hope you like my bow."

Ranger Raphael seemed very happy, not minding the old, blood-soaked face-covering helmet at all.

"Uh, then I seem to be getting the better deal..."

That Eagle Strike Bow performed exceptionally well, clearly worth much more than the helmet.

Li Ang felt a little embarrassed now—when he could take advantage, he always wanted more, but when the other party genuinely didn't care, he worried about losing face...

"No, Lord! This helmet is a testament to your valor and wisdom. How many enemies must you have personally slain to get it this bloody... It is I who got the great deal."

Raphael genuinely seemed to consider receiving the helmet an immense honor. He didn't even want to wipe the blood off it.

His eyes were clean and pure.

"...As long as you like it. By the way, does anyone among you speak Gatu?"

Li Ang had asked the right person this time. Both Ralph and Raphael knew a little Gatu—their hometown was at the border of the Long River Forest and the Gatu Grasslands, where they often encountered Gatu people.

"Lord, why are you studying the Gatu language?"

"I captured a Gatu warlord."

Raphael's eyes now looked as if he were gazing upon a deity: "...Heavens... No one has ever been able to capture a high-ranking Gatu! Don't they all fight to the death?"

Li Ang was the last person to be treated by Ansen—the knife wound on his chest was superficial and not serious. His leg and arm had penetrating wounds, and as long as the arrows weren't removed, there was no possibility of excessive bleeding.

This demeanor earned him the collective respect of his subordinates and the Horn Summon Ranger Corps.

It was just that Li Ang didn't particularly want this respect—it hurt like hell.

Pretending to be a tough guy was actually very uncomfortable...

After a short rest, Raphael bid farewell to Li Ang and crossed the river to cause trouble near Lion Lake City, while Ralph stayed at the camp to help Li Ang interrogate the warlord.

Li Ang wanted to know how the warlord got his sword—he felt that given the Gatu's adaptability in mountainous terrain, they probably couldn't catch up to or kill Liwa, a mountain bandit familiar with the terrain.

If Liwa could indeed trade with the Gatu, then he wanted to find this woman.

Not for revenge, purely to be a profiteer.

Of course, if possible, taking revenge along the way would be fine too.

The Lord is very petty.

But this warlord, who had remained silent all along, seemed to have no will to live after all two hundred Gatu cavalrymen died, appearing to seek death.

It seemed pointless to torture him in this state.

Besides, he was already several times injured and extremely weak.

Ralph could only try to threaten and question him, but for the most part, he got no reaction.

It wasn't until Ralph looked at the remaining dozens of Gatu warhorses outside and said something that the warlord finally opened his eyes.

"You, cannot, do, this! Those, are, just, horses!"

"Damn it! So you can speak human language after all!"

Although he spoke word by word, his meaning was clear – this warlord did not want those horses to be harmed.

Ralph chuckled, "As expected, every Gatu person loves horses."

"...The Dexian people too... horses are their brothers and gods, more important than wives and daughters," Sarah leaned over and said softly beside him.

"Since you can speak human language... I only have one question: where did you get this sword?" Li Ang showed the sword to the warlord, then added, "Answer my question, and I will heal your wounds and guarantee your life."

The warlord turned his head to look at Li Ang and shook his head, "I, die. Horses, you, cannot, eat!"

Fine, he hadn't expected Ralph to use the threat of eating horse meat to make him speak...

As expected, the core of every culture is food; the most reliable way to distinguish between peoples and beliefs is to see what can and cannot be eaten...

"Alright, I promise to raise them until they are plump and strong. My question shouldn't be too difficult for you, but if you don't answer even this, we'll just have to have horse meat stew. And I promise, you'll eat your fill too!"

Li Ang gestured for the Gatu warlord to look at the deflated large pot in the middle of the camp.

Two horse legs were propped diagonally on the rim of the pot; after being cut in half by Kloze's sword, half a horse had crushed the iron pot.