A Difficult Team to Lead, All Actors! (Seeking Follow-ups)

Branton gave Yveta ten gold pounds as a deposit, and also handed over a ruby ring he was wearing.

This was collateral.

The side of the ruby ring bore the family crest of the Moro Family, a roaring wolf, symbolizing the responsibility the Moro Family had shouldered for generations in guarding the only main road entering the Viscount Country from the west.

In this era, a ring seal could represent its owner's identity, and could even be used to write letters to others in the owner's name.

Therefore, the fact that Branton offered this as a deposit showed his sincerity.

In Yveta's previous life, this would have been equivalent to handing over his ID card.

This way, Yveta wouldn't have to worry about him not paying later.

Branton pulled them to the side of the road. "I'll take you through the mountain path to the forest where my sister went missing."

"We're too easily discovered here."

"I don't know why, but my father particularly hates me looking for my sister. Perhaps he thinks I'm going mad."

Leili asked worriedly, "What about the carriage, horses, and cattle?"

The old witch said directly, "I'll just add a Human Expulsion Curse. This spell will make anyone who approaches our carriage unable to see it or the cattle."

As she spoke, she had Black Wolf tie the carriage and cattle to two trees.

Then, she found a pile of stones on the ground and some dry twigs.

She drew symbols on the stones with the dry twigs, then arranged the stones in a circle, enclosing the carriage and cattle.

"There. All done."

Branton looked at the old witch fearfully. "She... she's a witch?!"

"Do you have a problem with that?" the Hearthstone Great Witch looked at him disdainfully.

"I... I don't." Branton's mind was a bit jumbled. He hadn't expected that among the explorers he hired, there was actually a witch.

Was this too much value for money?

He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Yveta said, "Alright. You should hurry and take us to the place where your sister had her accident."

Branton replied, "Y-yes."

Branton led them across the mountain path and into a rare patch of forest within the mountains. It was deep and dark, and even more terrifying at night.

It was filled with wild beasts.

Fortunately, the beasts weren't stupid; they wouldn't attack humans carrying ironware.

This was a lesson learned by their ancestors, paid for in blood.

Along the way, they communicated in low voices and learned that Branton was a First Rank Knight Attendant with an Extraordinary Heart.

The problem was, according to him, he had only recently become a Knight Attendant and wasn't very strong in combat.

Leili told him that he was a warrior who had used Warrior Secret Medicine.

Black Wolf, on the other hand, stated that he was a Demon Hunter who had passed four trials.

The old witch said, "As expected. When you used the Griffin School's Potion Trap in the inn, I knew you weren't an ordinary Demon Hunter."

"Heh heh, Your Majesty, he's not simple."

Yveta looked at Black Wolf in confusion. "Passed four trials?"

"What level is passing four trials? What stage is it equivalent to for a Knight or a Witch?"

The old witch respectfully explained to Yveta, "Your Majesty, the first rank sequence for Knights is Knight Attendant, followed by the second rank sequence, Formal Knight, and the third rank sequence, Great Knight."

"Then there's the fourth rank, High Knight, and the fifth, sixth ranks, and so on..."

"A Demon Hunter who passes the first trial is equivalent to a Professional of the first rank sequence."

"Equivalent to the Knight Attendant level."

"If a Demon Hunter passes two more trials, they are equivalent to the Formal Knight level."

"Black Wolf has passed four trials. If he passes just one more trial, his Demon Hunter rank will be equivalent to a Great Knight."

"Therefore, his strength should be at the peak of an ordinary Knight."

Yveta hadn't expected the Demon Hunter Black Wolf to be so formidable.

The old witch took the opportunity to stab at Black Wolf. "You've been holding back all this time, with ulterior motives. Serving Your Majesty, yet you still have second thoughts."

"You even want to betray him."

"You're not as loyal as I am."

Someone said this without blushing or breathing heavily.

In reality, she herself had been planning to find a scapegoat and then distance herself from Yveta.

The Demon Hunter Black Wolf's expression darkened, and he immediately looked at Yveta. "Your Highness, don't listen to her nonsense."

"That day in the inn, I was trapped by a Charlemagne's Army Formation composed of seventeen Knight Attendants. Let alone a mere Demon Hunter who had passed four trials like me, even a Demon Hunter Lord who had passed seven trials wouldn't have been their match."

"Those are tactics the Knight Order uses in war. Knights are the strongest profession on the front lines. We demon hunters, who fight alone, are no match for them."

Yveta frowned. "But Black Wolf, can a fallen prince really hire you?"

"I..." Black Wolf said, "I swear to the God of All Things, I will never harm you."

"If you die, I'll go bankrupt."

"Your current assets are not enough to compensate for the many weapons I lost helping you!"

When he fled the manor with Yveta, he had basically lost a lot of spare weapons, only taking a few personal ones.

The magnitude of the loss made Black Wolf dream of how Yveta would pay him back.

Yveta's expression suddenly changed from impassive to a smile. "It's not that serious. I was just asking a few more questions."

After speaking, he acted as if he truly didn't care anymore.

In reality, Yveta was just thinking that Black Wolf was merely a mercenary.

He had no right to control who he belonged to.

He couldn't manage it.

Black Wolf was at least better than the Old Witch. The Old Witch had previously wanted to kill him, and now she seemed restless, constantly urging him to go to Ambrose quickly.

He wondered what she was up to.

Alas, leading a team was difficult.

After all this time, only Leili and Alicia were truly his people.

The others all had their own agendas.

He now understood the hardships of a lord.

Unless they were people cultivated from childhood and known inside and out, it was truly difficult to guarantee their loyalty.

Burton pricked up his ears, eavesdropping. Demon hunters who passed the Fourth Trial, princes, being pursued...

He was speechless.

Had he hired explorers or a celestial team?

At that moment, his expression towards Yveta became more respectful.

No wonder the witches, demon hunters, and warriors all treated this teenager with utmost respect, deferring to him in all matters.

It turned out he had a noble identity.

Burton was a little scared. He suddenly stopped in the woods. "Your... Your Highness, please forgive me for not knowing your identity before. We've arrived at the place where my sister went missing, and I'm too ashamed to trouble you with such matters. I was too disrespectful."

Nobles in this era placed great importance on rank and order.

Even a foreign prince, even if his situation seemed dire, was still a prince.

Yveta waved his hand at him. "We are just explorers now."

"Have we arrived? Let's inspect this place first."

Burton was deeply moved. Different people doing different things would yield different results.

Even if a commoner helped a lord, the lord's gratitude wouldn't be great.

But if a prince helped a lord, the lord would be extremely grateful.

In this era, Yveta didn't feel pressured by revealing his whereabouts because he was the legitimate heir to the kingdom.

Even if King Arthas put a bounty on him, he could only use the Brotherhood, assassins who operated in the shadows and lacked honor, to do so.

There was no other reason; it was simply because Yveta was the King's son.

No noble dared to accept a bounty to kill Yveta. In this era where titles were highly valued, virtually no one dared to do so openly.

Conversely, if Yveta had enough money, he could try to put a bounty on the current King Arthas.

He was just a usurper.

However, he had no money, and King Arthas had an army. Basically, no one would accept such an absurd bounty.

Yveta also had no intention of loudly proclaiming his identity everywhere, as this would attract ambitious individuals with ulterior motives, which would be problematic.