Do You Know Who My... Father Is?

Xiulunte glanced at the Outpost County residents still clamoring outside the door, then looked at Sakre with a faintly mocking smile. "How should commoners be dealt with when they take up weapons and lay siege to a Papal Legion Commander?"

Sakre remained silent.

Xiulunte strolled up to Sakre and repeated himself. "How should commoners be dealt with when they dare to take up weapons and lay siege to a Papal Legion Commander?"

Sakre lowered his voice with difficulty. "Those who show hostility lose a hand. Those who attack with weapons are hanged."

Xiulunte applauded. "It seems my Chief of Staff is very well versed in Holy See law."

"And you?" Xiulunte walked over to Yorkshire again and said expressionlessly, "Clerk of the Kingdom of Locke, did you hear what my Chief of Staff said?"

Yorkshire frowned at Xiulunte without answering.

Xiulunte narrowed his eyes, his face darkening as he asked in a low voice, "Didn't you hear what I just said?"

An inexplicable chill ran through Yorkshire's heart. Looking at Xiulunte's gloomy face, especially those utterly emotionless eyes, made his scalp tingle.

"The Kingdom of Locke has no relevant laws..." Yorkshire answered hoarsely. "Besides, these commoners never entered the county administration hall or posed any threat to you."

"Mm, you're right." Xiulunte nodded. Then his face suddenly twisted into a savage expression as he said, one word at a time, "But they disturbed my nap!"

With that, Xiulunte turned and walked back into the county administration hall. As he passed Asuo, he yawned and said, "You're my messenger, right? One arm per person. Oh, and knock them unconscious before carrying out the sentence. Don't disturb me."

After saying that, he stretched lazily and entered the county administration hall, as though he had merely issued an entirely ordinary order.

Yorkshire looked disdainful. He did not believe that the few nobodies before him could make the commoners outside surrender without resistance.

As the county clerk, he understood the commoners here better than anyone else. No, they should be called unruly and ferocious civilians.

The people of Outpost County were tough by nature. A young woman who appeared too weak to even truss a chicken might be a top assassin from the Assassin Association.

A butcher selling Shalu Beast meat might very well be an elite border soldier with bloodied hands and countless kills to his name.

Of course, that was only his imagination. He had no real proof, merely rumors he had heard from others.

There were many legends about Outpost County. The most talked-about one was a rumor from several years ago, when a group of more than a hundred Wasteland Bandits bypassed the border army and came to Outpost County looking for easy pickings.

Other than the constables, Outpost County had no defensive forces at all. The diocese's Faith Guardian Knights had happened to escort Wood to the Southwest General Diocese.

The Wasteland Bandits had slipped in under cover of night. Only the devil knew what they had gone through.

At dawn the next day, the corpses of nearly a hundred bandits were lined up neatly outside the county administration hall. Every valuable thing on them had been stripped away. They were completely bare, without even a single pair of underwear left.

It was said that the next day, many unruly civilians who had fallen behind on diocesan taxes lined up early in the morning to pay off everything they owed.

This was more than just a rumor. There were several vague records of it in the county archives.

After Yorkshire took office, those lazy, good-for-nothing troublemakers had suggested more than once that all defensive forces in the county be disbanded. Better yet, they said, tear down the town gates too.

Deep down, Yorkshire did not want the commoners in his county to all be butchers who killed without blinking. But from the eyes and behavior of these troublemakers, he gradually understood that he had been far too optimistic.

He could tell the difference between the eyes of those who disregarded life and the eyes of ordinary commoners.

And at that moment, the looks in the eyes of the commoners outside the county administration hall were precisely the sort he had feared.

They were the eyes of people who had endured blood and fire for a long time, eyes that had come to disregard life.

That was why Yorkshire was so disdainful. He did not believe these troublemakers would surrender without resistance.

But in the next instant, a faint tremor came from the ground, throwing him into complete panic.

Several breaths later, countless fully armed knights arrived from every direction and formed a cavalry formation. They accelerated into a charge, stopping less than a hundred meters from the county administration hall and surrounding all the commoners.

The knights barreled straight through without avoiding the innocent commoners in their path. Many failed to dodge in time and were struck head-on by the huge horses, sent flying as they howled in pain.

There were exactly one hundred knights. Aside from the neighing of their horses, not one of them made a sound. Their movements were perfectly uniform, and their silence was terrifying.

The leading knight leaped down from his horse and rudely shoved aside the commoners blocking his way.

"I am Andrew, guard to the Legion Commander. Where is Lord Xiulunte?"

After glancing at Sakre's dark expression, Asuo hurried over and relayed Xiulunte's order.

Andrew gave a vicious grin. He swept his gaze disdainfully over the residents of Outpost County, then mounted his horse again. At his gesture, the cavalry behind him expanded the encirclement and drew their knightly longswords.

Seeing this, Yorkshire could no longer hold himself back. He sprang forward, about to run out the gate, but Sakre's powerful arm shot out and lifted him like a chick before ruthlessly tossing him to the ground.

A knight behind him pressed the tip of his sword against Yorkshire's brow as his face filled with despair.

Sakre sighed helplessly. His tightly furrowed brows revealed the conflict in his heart. After a moment, he called resolutely toward the county administration hall, "Honorable Legion Commander, Outpost County falls under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Locke. Our duty is to exterminate heretics. We should not raise our butcher's blades against commoners. Please withdraw your order."

Yorkshire looked hopefully toward the building.

No sound came from within the county administration hall. Sakre snorted softly and was about to enter when a black-robed man walked out. He raised a withered finger in a silencing gesture and said quietly, "The Legion Commander is resting. Chief of Staff, whatever it is, please wait a while."

After saying that, the man in black muttered a spell. Several breaths later, a layer of light shimmering with azure radiance enveloped the vast county administration hall.

The man in black smiled faintly and said calmly, "Just a trivial trick. The Legion Commander is afraid of too much noise."

Sakre's expression changed drastically. "A Holy See Consecrated Mage? A Water Magus?"

The man in black nodded. "My name is Hels. Like you, I am from the Duchy of Rothel."

"Hels?" Sakre's face darkened as though water might drip from it, and his eyes turned red.

Upon hearing that name, the several attendant knights behind him immediately moved to Sakre's side and watched Hels warily.

"The Holy See truly accepts all comers. Even an evil mage who has slaughtered countless people can be called by the sacred name of the Supreme God?" Sakre sneered. "When I return from the Wasteland, I will surely kill you and avenge those innocent villagers."

Hels shook his head without fear and pointed outside the gate. "Chief of Staff, you should worry about what is in front of you. The hard-won and pitifully scant friendship between the Kingdom of Locke and the Duchy of Rothel may yet turn into the flames of vengeance."

Sakre's heaving chest showed his towering fury. After glaring viciously at Hels, he finally turned and noticed that the hundred knights led by Andrew had begun steadily backing their horses away.

"My lord, they're opening up charging distance," one bootlicking knight whispered into his ear.

"I know! Do I need you to tell me?" Sakre kicked him angrily. His heart was filled with anxiety, and he could not help glancing at the equally anxious Yorkshire.

Sakre understood that these commoners were innocent. Perhaps Xiulunte's true intention was to provoke conflict between the Kingdom of Locke and the Holy See. There were fewer and fewer heretics on the continent, and Xiulunte had proposed to the Pope more than once that they should turn their butcher's blades upon their fellow men who did not believe in the Supreme God.

And although the Kingdom of Locke was a vassal state of the Holy See, there were still quite a few people there who did not believe in the Supreme God. Moreover, the Kingdom of Locke had grown increasingly powerful, and for many years it had turned a deaf ear to the Holy See's meddling.

Perhaps all of this was Xiulunte's scheme. More likely, it was a warning specifically meant for him.

He and Xiulunte both came from the Duchy of Rothel. Yet one was a top noble, while the other had been an orphan of mysterious origins whom no one cared about.

Xiulunte's rise had been extraordinary. After joining the Kingdom Guard, he was expelled from military service for repeatedly torturing his opponents to death. No one knew how he had ended up in the Holy See's extermination forces, but he had risen like a dark horse and become a Legion Commander in less than ten years.

The Holy See had only three Heretic Extermination Legions. Xiulunte was their youngest Legion Commander, as well as a highly skilled Qi Warrior. He rode an Earth Element Earth-walking Dragon, a Sub-dragon Beast, and was hailed by the Holy See as its brightest rising star and most devout servant.

Fortunes changed. The young men from the same country now stood in reversed positions: Sakre, a top noble of the duchy, had instead become Xiulunte's subordinate.

Proud by nature, Sakre had risen to become a legion's Chief of Staff the moment he joined the Holy See. Xiulunte had humiliated him more than once already.

For some reason, Sakre suddenly thought of Outpost County's nominal lord.

If that useless lord had been here, how would he have dealt with this situation?

Heh, he probably would have wet himself in terror at the sight of Xiulunte.

But what did that matter? He had just boasted that he would seek justice for these commoners, yet in the blink of an eye, the conflict had escalated.

His appearance had only made the situation worse.

Sakre remembered the knightly spirit his uncle and father had instilled in him as a child. He remembered the faith he had never wavered in. He remembered so much...

After glancing at Yorkshire, who had clenched his fists, he drew his sword and slowly walked toward the cavalry.

The several lackeys looked at one another, shook their heads helplessly, and followed him.

Just as Sakre raised his sword and drew everyone's attention with an angry roar—

"Fuck your mothers! You dare surround my little brother Yorkshire? You blind idiots tired of living?"

An angry shout came from the distance. The crude language, like that of a street thug, revealed just how furious the speaker was, as well as... how overconfident and uncultured he was.

Allen carried an incomparably thick Wolf-tooth Club upside down in one hand. Behind him followed Dina, excitedly carrying a Siege Crossbow on her shoulder.

Old Butler Leisi leaned on his cane and shuffled along some distance behind them, sighing continuously as he walked.

Allen raised his Wolf-tooth Club and cursed viciously at Andrew. "Where the fuck did so many dumbass outsiders come from? You dare cause trouble on my turf? Who's your father, acting so damn arrogant?"

Andrew was so furious that he laughed. With a vicious grin, he asked, "Who are you?"

"You don't need to know who I am." Allen snorted. With the swagger of someone who considered himself second only to heaven, he shouted proudly, "You only need to know who my father is."

Sakre slapped his forehead in pain. The tiny bit of respect that had just risen in his heart vanished completely.

The Old Butler behind him hurriedly stopped walking and moved farther away from Allen.

Only the delighted Dina shouted excitedly, her face full of pride, "I'll tell you, and it'll scare you stiff! The Kingdom's Grand Duke is his father."

Andrew looked contemptuous, while the knights behind him burst into laughter.

"Is my father not impressive enough?" Allen asked awkwardly, turning to the Old Butler behind him.

Old Laixi: "..."