Day by day, the chaos in the wilderness showed no sign of stopping. Instead, it grew increasingly severe.
A large tribe moving south was like putting a twenty-pound dog-fat carp into a nearby half-acre pond—the entire pond's ecological balance would undergo a major reshuffle.
Before a stable set of relationships could be reestablished, chaos and upheaval would become the defining theme here.
Even the gentle breeze drifting past High Mountain Keep seemed to carry an air of alarm and dread.
Bands of wandering bandits appeared in increasing numbers. Sometimes, they would even gather and attempt to attack High Mountain Keep. Such attempts were naturally no more than throwing eggs at a rock, and the warriors crushed them as easily as mowing grass. Still, the tension in the situation had become an unspoken consensus among everyone.
Richard personally cut open the stomach of a bandit who had died in battle. Inside was no longer the hard-to-stomach grass seeds and tree bark, but raw meat and several half-chewed fingers.
The discovery sent chills down the spines of everyone present.
"Did you see their red eyes? Cannibalism causes red-eye madness. In the end, they still can't escape death." After saying this, Richard rinsed his fingertips with clean water and ordered the warriors present to keep silent.
It was better not to let the commoners hear about this. The more turbulent the situation became, the more High Mountain Keep needed to maintain internal stability.
There was even a vicious incident in which herders tending their livestock outside were robbed and killed, while all their animals were looted. It caused widespread panic among the people of the territory for a time. Compared to his usual self, Richard was especially silent that day. He set out with the centaurs before sunset and did not return until noon the following day.
They were covered in blood, their clothes soaked through with sweat, and their exhaustion was plain to see. Yet every one of them carried several Gnoll heads whose eyes had never closed, even in death.
The heads were impaled on pointed wooden stakes surrounding the keep to warn the bandits. The terror of their final moments in life still lingered in their eyes, until crows pecked them out or the heads dried in the wind.
The people of the territory made no comment. They merely contracted their residential area in silence and began organizing watches on their own or helping the centaur blacksmiths forge weapons.
They were actually terrified—terrified that Lord Richard would choose to retreat temporarily to Koren. They were all natives of the wilderness and could never possibly be accepted by the Pompey Empire, even temporarily. And if they were abandoned... they simply lacked the courage to imagine what would happen.
What the people of the territory did not know was that Richard had received a letter from Noble's Estate several days earlier, delivered by a carrier falcon.
The amount of weight a carrier falcon could carry on a long-distance flight was extremely limited, so every word in a letter was precious. How to convey as much information as possible within a limited space was practically a field of study that the clerks ought to pursue.
Yet those good-for-nothings at Noble's Estate were as unreliable as ever. They had used a full three lines for salutations and formatting, leaving only two lines for the actual content.
In essence, it was a warning of danger addressed to the Pioneering Nobles stationed abroad, calling on them to return to Pompeii territory as soon as possible.
After eating a few strips of meat, the carrier falcon soared into the sky again, the wooden tube on its leg empty. High Mountain Keep remained High Mountain Keep. Daily patrols, training, herding, and fishing continued, and this little interruption caused no disturbance.
For a Pioneering Noble, retreating to Pompeii territory to escape disaster meant that the pioneering effort had failed. That was something Richard absolutely could not accept, no matter what.
The advantages of converting wooden buildings into Earth Dwellings became apparent at this moment. The portions above ground were extremely low, and with transplanted grass clumps as tall as a person concealing them, they looked from a distance like nothing more than an ordinary barren hill.
In this tense period when every blade of grass seemed to conceal an enemy, Richard never would have expected to see Annie.
"Why are you here?" Annie wore leather hunting clothes and rode a tall horse. Her hair was wrapped in a linen headscarf, and a slender rapier hung at her waist. She looked valiant and dashing.
Behind her was a mercenary force of more than a hundred people, complete with infantry, cavalry, and archers. Their ranks were orderly and their bearing solemn, making them practically a small army.
"What do you mean, why am I here? I should be asking you that. High Mountain Keep is my territory." Richard was utterly baffled.
"We were passing through and planned to stop for a rest. I didn't expect you still hadn't returned to Koren. Noble's Estate didn't notify you?" Annie halted the large force behind her, then urged her warhorse slowly toward Richard.
"They did, but I don't want to go." Richard waved his hand. "There's no need. If those bandits dare come here, they'll just be delivering their heads."
His voice was loud, and the mercenaries could not help bursting into laughter as soon as he finished speaking. The warriors and people of High Mountain Keep did not laugh, however. They looked at the mercenaries as though they were pitying fools.
"Lord Richard, you might be the last Pioneering Noble in the entire Northeastern Province still defending his territory." Annie's face had originally been rather grim, but after hearing the arrogant man's words, even the corners of her mouth curved upward slightly. "I'm wondering whether you really are that brave, or whether your channels of information are simply too poor."
After saying this, she extended her small hand toward Richard. The lord understood perfectly and raised his own hand to support her, helping her down from the horse.
"Do you know what's been happening lately?" Annie asked.
"I heard it's because a large Bearfolk tribe moved south." Richard sounded somewhat hesitant even as he said it.
He had heard this news from mercenaries of the Voya Merchant Guild, while Annie surely had known about it long ago. But as far as Richard knew, there were at least a dozen Pioneering Territories in the Northeastern Province. If the threat was merely one tribe, it should not have been enough to make all of them flee like rats crossing a busy street.
"There may be no one who understands the whole story better than I do. I'd wager you know nothing about the truth." Annie sighed. Even a blind man could see how heavy her mood was.
"I'd be glad to hear the details." Richard immediately seized the opportunity to press her for more.
Merchant guilds generally had extensive connections. When it came to gathering intelligence, ordinary minor nobles could not hold a candle to them.
"This used to involve the highest secret of our merchant guild, but now there's nothing left. It shouldn't matter if I tell you."
Annie and Richard entered the Lord's Hall and sat across from each other. Richard waved for Gunther and Hert to leave first and close the door behind them. Annie had only one female swordswoman accompanying her.
An outdated secret was still a secret. The fewer people who knew, the better.
"This kind of building you designed is really practical." Annie looked up at the roof assembled from logs. "It's cool and easy to conceal. My scouts were completely fooled. Though, as far as its appearance goes, it could actually use some improvement."
Before Annie left last time, Richard had told her that he planned to introduce a brand-new building of his own design and name it an "Earth Dwelling," praising it to the skies. At the time, Annie firmly believed the elven proverb, "The more one flaunts, the more one lacks," and had paid no attention to him after hearing it. She never would have expected to be the first person to experience its effects herself.
"Get to the point." Richard impatiently picked up the teapot and poured her a cup of water.
Elves were universally known for enjoying discussions of architecture and art. Annie had clearly been deeply influenced by her elven blood in this regard, and the lord had long since experienced it firsthand.
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