Matthew Castle

"There's a fire." Abel reminded Knight Marshall, looking toward the distant light.

"That's in the direction of Lord Matthew's castle." Knight Marshall glanced toward the fire and said with certainty.

Lord Matthew was the lord of the territory situated between Knight Marshall's and Knight Bennett's territories. His relationship with Knight Marshall was ordinary at best, because territorial lords did not recognize the status of knight-territory lords as nobles. Although most people in the human world acknowledged that a knight with land was a noble, this did not include some knights who possessed fiefs.

Thus, although Lord Matthew and Knight Marshall were neighbors, their relationship consisted only of saluting each other when they met. Now, seeing the firelight from Lord Matthew's castle, Knight Marshall hesitated over whether to go and help.

First of all, Knight Marshall could not expose his identity. If anyone discovered that he had left his own territory, that would cause trouble.

Secondly, Knight Marshall had to protect Abel, and he could not be sure whether he still had the strength to rescue Matthew Castle.

Abel said nothing. He looked at Knight Marshall and left the decision to him. Abel knew nothing about Lord Matthew. He had never met him, nor had he heard either knight mention him. Thus, Abel was not noble enough to rescue an unfamiliar nobleman. Only after ensuring his own complete safety could he offer such a minor helping hand.

"We'll go help them. You must not leave my side. I can't appear personally in this matter, so go in your capacity as a master blacksmith." Knight Marshall gave his instructions.

"All right, Uncle Marshall." Abel followed Knight Marshall's arrangements.

Abel took the Hari Bow from the saddle. Although wielding it was somewhat strenuous for him, firing three or four arrows was still no problem.

Knight Marshall was also holding a Hari Bow. He placed an arrow on the rest and drew the bowstring. At that moment, Knight Marshall discovered another advantage of the Hari Bow: it was especially suited for use on horseback.

Think about it. When using an ordinary bow, you had to control the horse with both legs while drawing the bow with all your strength, then keep exerting force to hold it drawn while taking aim and firing.

With the Hari Bow, once you drew the bow, you could maintain the drawn position with very little effort. That left you with more strength to control the horse, while allowing you to take aim and fire with plenty of time and ease.

The two warhorses moved swiftly. Abel was the first to notice that the castle had already descended into chaos. Outside the castle gates, four Wolf Riders were pursuing and killing people who had fled.

Hearing the sound of hoofbeats, the four Wolf Riders shouted loudly. Two of them raised their long blades and charged at Abel and Knight Marshall.

"You take the one in front. I'll take the one behind." Knight Marshall's voice came from behind him.

Abel aimed at the first Wolf Rider and pulled the trigger. A hole instantly opened in the head of the Wolf Rider in front, and then the Wolf Rider behind him also fell—the arrow from Knight Marshall had arrived.

The two Wolf Riders who had remained behind to pursue the fleeing people noticed what had happened and began howling loudly. Abel understood the orc language. They were calling for their companions inside the castle to come out and face the enemy.

Abel and Knight Marshall did not stop firing. Their next attacks sent those two Wolf Riders crashing to the ground. At that moment, the dire wolves' riders had died, but the dire wolves did not stop. They charged madly toward Abel and Knight Marshall.

Knight Marshall calmly shot all four dire wolves dead, then turned to Abel and said, "See that? Those are dire wolves. They're incredibly loyal. You must treat your Black Wind well."

"Uncle Marshall, I understand." Abel nodded firmly. Seeing the four slain dire wolves, he realized that he had not shot them because of the trace of pity in his heart—and because of his absolute trust in Knight Marshall.

At that moment, six Wolf Riders charged out of Matthew Castle. Large bundles hung from the backs of all six dire wolves.

A cold glint flashed through Knight Marshall's eyes. He gave a cold snort. "They're looking for death."

Those Wolf Riders had actually brought the loot they had stolen with them even while charging. Their greed had hastened their own destruction.

Abel and Knight Marshall had already fired their arrows. When the six Wolf Riders had charged to within thirty meters of them, all six were dead on the path of their charge, along with their dire wolves.

Looking at the Wolf Riders lying dead halfway along the road, Knight Marshall sighed. "This was a ten-man squad. Orcs are extremely formidable, but unfortunately, they lack armor." He glanced back at Abel and continued, "The Blacksmith Guild strictly forbids its blacksmiths from making armor for orcs, while the orcs' own blacksmiths lack the skills to make armor. So these orcs can only use their bodies to withstand our arrows."

The panicked people in Matthew Castle gradually realized that all the Wolf Riders attacking them had been killed. The crowd slowly gathered, and a middle-aged man dressed in formal attire came before Abel. Knight Marshall now acted like Abel's attendant, standing behind him.

"Greetings, Sir Knight. Thank you for saving us. I'm Steward Ken of Matthew Castle." Although he had been frightened, the etiquette ingrained in him made Ken extremely courteous. He performed a gesture of thanks before Abel.

"I'm Abel Hari. I accept your thanks. Where is your master?" After saving them, Abel was quite displeased that the master had not appeared. He and Knight Marshall had risked danger to help Lord Matthew, yet Lord Matthew still had not shown himself. That was extremely rude.

"Master Abel, my master has already..." Hearing the question, Steward Ken was already in tears and could not speak from grief. The courtesy he had just displayed had vanished completely. For a noble's steward, this was utterly unimaginable.

Abel's name had spread rapidly throughout Harvest City. The nobles basically all knew that a young master blacksmith lived within the territory of Harvest City.

Abel could already tell that something was wrong. Something had happened to Lord Matthew. He dismounted and supported Steward Ken with one hand. Abel displayed a composure far beyond his age. At thirteen, he was already nearly 1.7 meters tall.

As the noble who had rescued Matthew Castle, Abel could temporarily act on behalf of the territory and issue orders in the absence of a noble. This was one of the rules governing nobles.

"Arrange for people to restore order in the castle. Have someone go to Harvest City to report Lord Matthew's situation to the city lord. The city lord will decide what happens afterward," Abel said to Steward Ken.

"As you command." Steward Ken stopped his tears. Now that a noble had issued orders and made decisions, Matthew Castle could remain stable, preventing anyone with ulterior motives from taking advantage of the chaos.

Abel did not stay long. In about an hour, Matthew Castle had returned to peace. The orc corpses were piled up in the central square, while Matthew's remains had been placed in the great hall. The bodies of the other members of the Matthew Family who had been killed were also placed in the hall, while the corpses of the dead tenants and servants were laid in a side room.

All the storerooms were secured with Iron Lock, and Abel appointed Steward Ken and five unharmed guards to protect the Matthew Family's property and wait for people from Lord's Mansion to arrive and handle the situation.

Everyone from the Matthew Family inside the castle had been killed. After these orcs entered the castle, they first searched for the most luxurious rooms to plunder and slaughter, which directly resulted in the members of the Matthew Family being the first to die.

Once everything had been arranged, Abel told Steward Ken that he was leaving. Steward Ken did not dare stop a noble, especially a master, although at that moment he desperately hoped Abel would stay and wait for people from Lord's Mansion to arrive.

After leaving Matthew Castle, Abel and Knight Marshall exchanged a glance. The sight of Matthew Castle had deeply shaken them both. A noble family with many years of heritage had vanished because of a single attack.

If what had disappeared was Bennett Knight's Territory or Knight Marshall's territory, Abel simply could not imagine it. Once again, he gained a deeper understanding of the cruelty of this world.

Abel and Knight Marshall gradually disappeared into the darkness. Steward Ken watched Abel's back from afar, his heart filled with gratitude. To come to their aid under such circumstances, when there were only two knights present—that was what a true knight was.