Bastard, Let Me Go!

"One, two, one! One, two, one! Hiss..."

Amid those chants, Kazvito ran laps around the mountain where the bunker was located with a Lizardfolk Warrior.

A hobgoblin knight who had just completed a round of battle formation training watched them from afar. They whispered to one another in the goblin language, and no one knew what they were saying. However, their expressions were relaxed, and they even burst out laughing at certain points. They were clearly making fun of these "juniors" as they trained.

The things these Lizardfolk were training in now were things the hobgoblin knights had indeed practiced before: standing posture, marching in formation, jogging in formation, and the rest of the basics of military training. They were still practicing them as well, although they had slightly reduced the time spent on them and devoted more time to battle formation training.

Yes, this was what Landen had handed over to Kazvito. Unlike Hogg, Landen had not given him everything all at once. Instead, he planned to provide it in batches. After all, Kazvito's pitiful loyalty could not compare with Hogg's full loyalty. Moreover, although they were both highly intelligent races, Kazvito's learning ability was worlds apart from Hogg's. If everything were handed to him at once, he himself would not be able to understand it, let alone train the other Lizardfolk Warriors.

Besides, Landen had another reason for doing this. During the few military training sessions he had participated in, he had once asked an instructor a question: "Are things like standing at attention, marching in step, and marching properly really useful?"

The instructor had answered him very seriously that these things were extremely useful—in fact, they should be considered important. These drills did not train physical qualities such as strength and stamina. They trained the mind.

They trained perseverance; they trained resilience; they trained absolute obedience!

At the time, the instructor had told Landen that whether someone could become a soldier, and whether they could become a good soldier, depended less on physical fitness. Physical fitness could be improved through exercise. Mental strength was what truly determined it.

If someone could not even endure these basic drills, then they did not possess the qualifications to become a soldier. A person who could not only accept such training but also turn it into instinct and engrave it into their heart was qualified to become a good soldier.

Therefore, when he had first trained the hobgoblin knights, Landen had brought out this entire system. Some of the details might have been different, but the essence was the same, and so was the goal. Moreover, Landen had decided that anyone who wanted to become one of his soldiers had to undergo this kind of training. Even veterans from before would be eliminated without hesitation if they could not pass it.

The hobgoblin knights did not get to gloat for long before disaster struck them. The unfortunate group happened to run into Hogg, who was returning from Magra Cave. As a strict leader, Hogg immediately grew displeased when she saw that these hobgoblins were not training but were instead watching others train and laughing foolishly.

She dealt with each of the hobgoblins first, then assigned them even more training. Only after watching them trudge off to train with miserable expressions did Hogg turn around in satisfaction and return to the bunker.

"Lord, I'm back!" Hogg pushed open the door and entered the Lord's Office excitedly.

Of everyone there, only Hogg and Avina had the right to enter without knocking. Seeing that it was Hogg, Landen stopped looking at the Lord System, tossed the book he had been pretending to read aside, and said with a smile, "Good to have you back. I've been waiting for your good news."

Hogg casually tossed the bag behind her—nearly as tall as she was—to the ground, then jogged up to Landen. She performed a perfectly standard bow and said solemnly, "Hogg has fulfilled her mission. All those Bear Hobgoblins have been fully transformed, and I've already taught them the Planting Technique. They can go try it in the fields now."

There was no need to get this close to deliver the report. Landen immediately understood what Hogg meant. He raised his hand and patted her on the head, praising her. "I knew that anything entrusted to you would never go wrong. You'd definitely do it well."

"Heehee." Hogg chuckled foolishly, then suddenly jumped up and pointed at the bag by the door. "Oh, right, my lord! I brought someone back!"

The conspicuous object had caught Landen's attention long before Hogg mentioned it. When Hogg had thrown it down, the bag had clearly moved and even let out an extremely faint sound. Landen had known then that there was a person inside.

Hogg leaped over and swiftly untied the rope around the mouth of the bag, revealing the person inside. She said, "This one was lurking around near Magra Cave. I spotted her and brought her back while I was at it."

He... no, she had probably been knocked unconscious by Hogg and stuffed into the bag. The fall just now had woken her, but she was clearly still dazed. She groaned twice before lifting her head.

Hogg had shown her no mercy. Not only had she locked the woman's hands and feet in chains, she had also stuffed a cloth into her mouth. The huge wad of cloth had forced her face into a completely distorted shape and nearly split her mouth apart.

Although he could not see her face clearly, that did not stop Landen from determining her identity.

She was clearly a female Dark Elf with an incredibly alluring figure. Her tight leather outfit offered little defensive ability and looked more like fashionable attire. It was full of cutouts, revealing what should be revealed and what should not, with only certain vital areas barely covered. A gorgeous belt encircled her waist, covered in buckles and loops holding all kinds of trinkets—potion bottles, scrolls, throwing knives, and some tools Landen did not recognize. A leather whip hung at her side. He did not know what kind of leather it was made from, but the whip was covered in strange natural patterns. At its tip was a metal spider, complete with legs and clusters of compound eyes encircling its body, so lifelike that it seemed real. Its distinctive metallic sheen showed that a considerable amount of rare and precious metal had been mixed into it.

A priestess of Spider Queen Ros—and a relatively rare battle priestess at that! Even if she was not very powerful immediately after taking up the profession, someone with such a class could hold an important position within her family. In the future, she might even become a major heir to the Matriarch.

Landen recognized her profession at a glance.

"I never thought my shabby little territory would attract someone so important." Landen smiled faintly as he walked over and unceremoniously removed everything from her belt. He took the Spider Head Whip off in particular and immediately threw it into the corner farthest from them. Then he said to Hogg, "Remember, when you capture someone like this in the future, merely restraining her isn't enough. You must neutralize every danger as well."

As he spoke, Landen reached out and pulled the huge wad of cloth from the woman's mouth. He smiled and asked, "All right, tell me honestly, miss. Why did you come to my territory? Which family are you from?"

After all that commotion, the female Dark Elf had fully awakened. Before Landen had even finished speaking, she began shouting, "Philip Isis Landon, you bastard! What are you doing? Let me go at once!"