Lord

Without wasting any more time, Evan turned and continued fighting his way into the city.

If the pirates were allowed to wreak havoc and plunder the city, even with the City Guard resisting them, there was no telling how many casualties and losses would result. Evan could not tolerate that.

"Ah—"

"Spare me!"

"Run—"

The vicious-looking pirates now fell beneath Evan's sword one after another like helpless lambs.

Other than leaders like Billy, ordinary pirates were Almost no match for Evan in close combat.

Even more fortunately, most of the pirates had emptied their muskets while attacking the city earlier. In the midst of fierce fighting, they had no chance to reload, and Black Bear Billy was no exception.

Even when Billy reached for his gun at the end, he had only wanted to bluff Evan. Evan had noticed that when he took the musket from him.

As long as he was not caught in concentrated musket fire, Evan, who had already reached the Mortal Limit, was like an ancient fierce general charging alone into enemy ranks to mow down foes without equal, utterly fearless!

Thus, in street battles against pirates armed only with blades, any group of fewer than three pirates that encountered Evan was almost certain to be slaughtered one-sidedly. Only then did he gain a vivid understanding of the power he possessed.

Time passed second by second. More and more pirates fell beneath Evan's sword, and whenever he came across City Guard soldiers at a disadvantage, he casually saved them as well.

Wherever there were cries of battle or calls for help, Evan charged.

At last, after Evan boldly cut down pirates who were frantically looting a jewelry store.

Bang—

Bang—

A continuous barrage of gunfire sounded through the city. The main reinforcement force had evidently finally arrived.

"They're not too late."

At this point, unless the Pirate Captain had gone mad and insisted on fighting to the death, the signal to retreat should be given very soon.

Evan checked the time. Because of his interference, the Pirate Crew had failed to swiftly wipe out the guards defending the city after the perfect opening of the wall's collapse, greatly delaying the fall of the city.

Although the pirate assault had begun long ago, only twelve minutes had passed since the city wall was breached. Given the quality of the troops, it was already remarkable that they could finish preparing, assembling, and reinforcing the city in such a short time.

Whoosh—

Sure enough, a shrill whistle soon came from outside the city. Whether they had gained anything or not, the pirates who heard it began rapidly gathering and withdrawing.

Evan did not take the initiative to intercept the pirates again. On the way, he checked his family's potion shop and Sangi's home, finding no signs that pirates had invaded either. Once the situation had completely stabilized and he was reassured, he went straight home.

However, after returning home, Evan cleaned himself up and had only just sat down.

Grem, dusty and disheveled, burst in with great haste. Seeing that Evan was indeed home, he grabbed him with a delighted expression and tried to drag him outside.

"Evan, come with me, quickly! Lord Nabuli wants to see you. It's a good thing! Hurry!"

"Me? What does he want with me?" Evan could only helplessly let Grem pull him back out of the house.

Naturally, he knew who Lord Nabuli was—the renowned commander of the City Guard and a famous swordsmanship expert in Leopold. But Evan believed he had no connection with this lord, and had no idea why he had specifically asked to see him.

On the way, Grem also explained what he had experienced after the two had separated.

As expected of a hunter even more "cunning" than a fox, after seeing the pirates enter the city, Grem had not carried his hunting blade out to fight them to the death. Instead, he had directly gone to meet the reinforcements under the pretext of reporting battlefield intelligence.

As an unaffiliated hunter scout, although this behavior did not sound particularly admirable, no one could fault him for it.

No wonder Evan had hunted pirates all the way through the city without seeing any sign of that fellow. Only now did he learn that Grem had joined the main reinforcement force before daring to return to the battlefield with them.

Once the fighting subsided and all the pirates had withdrawn.

Lord Nabuli, commander of the City Guard, heard the report from the first soldiers stationed on the wall. Learning of Evan's formidable skill in commanding the battlefield with a single bow, he had wanted to meet this master archer.

After all, Evan had made tremendous contributions during this pirate invasion. By both sentiment and reason, the commander of the garrison ought to show his appreciation.

Soon, Evan met Lord Nabuli at a small outpost beside the collapsed city wall, where the City Guard was stationed.

This lord, famed throughout Leopold for his swordsmanship, was not wearing a uniform. With only an exquisite longsword hanging from his waist, he looked more like a pampered nobleman than a kingdom officer.

After exchanging simple greetings.

The lord invited Evan to sit in the sofa seating area. Looking at Evan's clean, handsome face despite his hunter's clothes, his straight back, and Both Hands bearing faint calluses that showed he frequently wielded a sword, he asked with interest:

"A noble?"

Evan returned a proper smile, neither admitting nor denying it.

Seeing that Evan carried no family crest or other object identifying his status, Nabuli nodded, believing he understood something. He did not press further, but his attitude immediately became much warmer.

Evan did not know that, in the span of that brief exchange.

The lord had already labeled him as the descendant of a fallen noble family. He had heritage, knowledge, and the ambition to restore his family, but lacked an opportunity.

Just like Nabuli himself in his youth.

Such cases were common, especially as the rising Merchant Nobility flourished and more traditional nobles went bankrupt and were forced to leave their homes. Other than an old title, all they retained was the "noble bearing" in their bones. Nabuli had placed Evan in that category.

Because a person's identity could be faked, but their temperament and manner of speech could never truly be concealed.

The upper nobles of the Tulip Alliance, including the royal families, had intermarried for centuries. Many members of the Upper class simultaneously held titles recognized by several nations.

There was no real barrier between nobles of different countries. As long as they could maintain the dignity of nobility, they could quickly integrate into local circles.

To Nabuli, a young man like Evan, who could not even maintain the basic appearances of nobility yet still stepped forward when the city faced danger, undoubtedly possessed the character of a traditional noble.

Thus, rather than looking down on him, Nabuli felt a trace of appreciation for his talent.

One was a traditional noble with broad knowledge and the desire to support younger generations. The other possessed insights and vision beyond his era and also wished to learn more about the kingdom's upper ranks. To their surprise, they found they shared quite a few topics in common, and soon they were chatting happily.

"Your Excellency..." At This Moment, Nabuli's adjutant suddenly entered. With a somewhat strange expression, he glanced at Evan, then leaned close to the lord and whispered something in his ear.

It turned out that after the battle ended, the cleanup of the battlefield had also been completed.

The losses of personnel and property would not be counted until tomorrow, but the pirate corpses found had already been collected.

When the soldiers had just been counting the pirate bodies, they unexpectedly discovered Black Bear Billy, the first mate of the Blood Anchor!

He was a figure listed on the navy's bounty roster. The lord was certain that, in the entire City Guard, perhaps no one apart from himself was a match for Billy.

Moreover, from the intelligence provided by the soldiers, the lord had learned that the Captain of the Blood Anchor had not actually disembarked. Black Bear Billy had been the leader of this attack on the city, and the principal culprit!

The leader of the pirate assault had been slain. For Leopold, even bad news could become good news, and for Nabuli, the man chiefly responsible, it was especially significant.

For the first time, Lord Nabuli sitting opposite Evan straightened his body. He no longer retained the casual posture of a superior facing an inferior.

Evan had not deliberately concealed his clash with Black Bear Billy. The first group of soldiers to engage the pirates had all witnessed it.

Therefore, it was not difficult to guess who had killed Billy. Moreover, judging from the fatal sword wound that had pierced his throat, the killer's swordsmanship was far superior even to Billy's.

It was truly shocking!

And that was not all.

The adjutant had just reported that, combining the sword wounds on the pirate corpses with the number Evan had shot dead with his bow, this youth alone had left behind Almost one-third of all the pirates. His achievement rivaled that of more than half the City Guard.

This made Nabuli no longer dare to view this handsome, polite young man through ordinary eyes. The words of recruitment that had nearly left his lips while the atmosphere was warm now refused to come out.

After several attempts to speak, he finally stared at Evan with wide eyes as though Looking at a monster and merely forced out one dry sentence:

"Your swordsmanship is formidable! I hope we will have a chance to spar in the future."

Evan smiled. "There will be an opportunity, Your Excellency the Lord!"