The Return

When Aaron saw his men storm into the castle with the prisoners and even more of the local folk, acting like beasts, he knew he had won.

By the time the sun had climbed high into the sky, word that Davis Castle had fallen had spread throughout the surrounding area.

Quite a few local folk with their faces covered had turned into rioters and joined in the feast.

He simply guarded the castle gates, letting the rioters come and go as they pleased. He allowed them to enter the castle, explore one hall after another, discover secret passage after secret passage, wear down the enemy, and even pull out every iron nail from the gates.

"That's about enough..."

Looking over the castle in disarray, Aaron led Sanchez and the others behind him into the hall.

Bloodstains covered the corridors. If his men had forced their way in, they would have suffered heavy losses.

But now, few of the bodies lying on the ground belonged to Aaron's men.

Screams and wild laughter kept coming from the rooms. A few bandits carrying bottles of wine swaggered around the hall, draped in silk—and some had simply torn down the curtains to wear.

The bandits had instinctively split into numerous groups, facing off against one another, but none dared challenge the regular troops.

"To break into the castle as quickly as possible, I'll have to give up a lot of my loot..."

Aaron thought as he made his way deeper into the castle.

This was his rightful share, an area the rioters didn't dare touch. Those who had dared were already corpses.

At that moment, muffled sobbing from a young woman came from behind a door.

The men present knew what was going on as soon as they heard it, and amused smiles appeared on their faces.

"I believe I said that the spoils and the women would be divided equally!"

Aaron's expression suddenly darkened. He knew what his men were like, and enforcing orders to the letter was hardly possible.

But openly defying his orders would weaken his men in battle. If everyone did the same, they would quickly lose their advantage as a regular army and be unable to suppress the rioters. They might not even make it out of this territory!

Smack!

With a cold expression, Aaron strode forward and kicked the door open.

Inside was clearly a lady's bedroom. Silk curtains hung around the bed, concealing a large velvet mattress.

Several rioters lay dead on the floor. A man in the middle of taking off his clothes saw Aaron, hurriedly pulled up his trousers, and gave him an awkward smile. "Boss, let me explain... I didn't do it. It was those rioters."

"Sure, you didn't do it. But you were about to..."

Aaron stepped forward and lashed Eight-Fingers with the scabbard of his sword.

Smack!

Eight-Fingers staggered, a bright red mark immediately appearing across his back.

Aaron continued forward and used his sword to part the curtains. There, he saw a tear-streaked face. "Sylvie Davis?"

She was the only daughter of the lord of Davis Territory, as well as Colin's fiancée—the heroine who had sparked this war.

Aaron had met her at the engagement ceremony and remembered her as a very haughty woman. But now...

"Take her with us. She may come in handy."

Aaron didn't care what condition she was in; he gave the order outright. Then he asked, "Where's Lady Anna?"

"That woman was hacked to death next door, along with a few children!" Eight-Fingers replied regretfully. If only the lord had arrived a little later.

As for the heir to Davis Territory, he was fighting on the front lines alongside the lord of Davis Territory.

"Take everything we've got and get out of here. We must be aboard a ship before noon!"

Aaron nodded, went to look at the bodies, and gave the order.

Even if someone sent word and the army on the front lines came back to help, it would take time. Once they were aboard, they could sail downstream and escape for sure!

Besides, there was no way he would stay and defend the castle, die with the enemy army, and leave Colin to reap the benefits.

That was out of the question!

By the time the sun reached the middle of the sky, two ships had already set sail.

"If my father is sharp enough, he'll have made preparations as soon as he receives my letter... And the enemy army's disorder is the clearest sign."

"If he seizes the opportunity, he should be able to bring this war to a complete end."

Aaron Sothoth stood at the bow, gazing at the crates of spoils they had captured as he thought to himself.

The sooner the war ended, the fewer people would die.

By comparison, today's sacrifices were nothing.

If the war dragged on, ten or even a hundred times as many people might die!

"But in truth, my main goal is still to look out for myself."

Aaron heard quiet sobbing. It came from the young women, all of them "spoils of war," including the castle's maids and the matrons who were even slightly attractive. After all, Aaron's men were a pack of animals.

And among them was a precious jewel—Sylvie Davis.

He had a feeling she would prove useful.

"And from now on, the war has little to do with me."

Aaron let out a long breath.

Widow Bay Camp.

The two ships had docked outside the camp, and a group of jubilant bandits eagerly prepared to divide the spoils.

"I plan to split the spoils into three shares. One will go to the lord, one will be mine, and the last will be divided among you."

Aaron Sothoth took up a pen and paper and began allocating the spoils.

There was so much, including livestock and women, that things were a little chaotic.

"Also... all the books are mine."

Aaron picked up a book. It was bound with papyrus and was already almost falling apart.

After all, before he invented the papermaking workshop, papyrus had been the most widely used material in the Green Forest. It was inferior to parchment, and its only advantage was its low cost. Later, it was thoroughly displaced by the new paper and driven from the market.

Still, before the papermaking workshop began operating, precious parchment was rarely used, so most books were made of papyrus.

"As you wish, my lord!"

Eight-Fingers bowed.

"Don't think this means you'll get out of that whipping."

Aaron snorted. As punishment for disobeying orders, Eight-Fingers would still get a whipping, even though he hadn't gone through with his misdeed.

He rummaged through the crates full of papers. Suddenly, he felt something beneath his hand and pulled out a scroll of parchment. He knew at once that it must contain valuable information.

He discreetly put the parchment away, then pointed at the crate of silver and copper coins. "Divide it up. Squad leaders get double shares. Anyone who wants a woman or livestock will get a smaller share!"

After setting out a generally fair plan for dividing the loot, Aaron left his men to celebrate and returned to his tent to study the parchment he had found.

When he opened it, a black map appeared.

"So it's a map."

Interest gleamed in Aaron's eyes as he examined it. The upper part of the map was one-third forest, marked as the Green Forest.

Below it stood castle after castle, guarding all the major routes and forming a kingdom.

'The Kagash Kingdom... the true ruler of this land. I've heard of it...'

'But in the eyes of the kingdom's people, we Green Foresters are probably just barbaric monkeys living in the forest, aren't we?'