Blossom Shell

After more than half a month of rushing from place to place, Giles and his group finally entered a relatively safe area. The local lord, Sir Minos, was one of his most loyal vassals.

Most importantly, the Royal Army had not reached this place yet.

When Lord Minos was informed that several ragged, unshaven vagrants wanted to see him, he immediately ordered the guards to drive them away.

At that moment, Sir Minos was already overwhelmed by the current situation and had no time to deal with a few vagrants. Ten days earlier, he had received earth-shattering news: Eagle Beak Pass had fallen to the Kingdom Army, while his liege, Duke Giles, and several other high-ranking commanders were missing.

For a time, Sir Minos had no idea what to do.

Surrender? Or resist? It was a major question.

He sent people to inquire with the neighboring lords, but with Giles—their backbone—gone, his vassals had fallen into complete chaos. Every one of them was running around like a headless fly. Sir Minos asked around, but received no useful information. Instead, the confusion in his heart only grew worse.

"My lord, h-he-he..."

Just as the duke was fretting, the guard came running back in a panic.

"What about him?" Minos was furious. He really wanted to slap this clueless fool across the face.

"He's Duke Giles!"

"What did you say?"

Ten minutes later, Sir Minos saw the indignant Giles and his group in the hall of the Lord's Manor.

"My lord, you... How did you end up like this?" Minos asked excitedly. Half of his excitement came from having slighted his liege, while the other half came from finding his backbone again—like a stray dog reuniting with its master.

Giles glared at him. "It's only been half a month, but Lord Minos's