Search and Arrest

"A mere Wild Wolf Bandit Group thinks they can kill me?"

"Furthermore... how dare they assassinate a lord? This is a provocation against all nobility; every noble will hunt them down until they are dead!"

"It seems... there is indeed a massive conspiracy at play."

Aaron recalled the premonition he had during his last attempt at Dark Spirituality, and he suddenly felt that all of this followed a traceable path.

"Killing me offers little benefit... and I don't have many enemies. Is it the remnants of the Davis Family, or..."

He gazed toward the direction of Sothos Castle, his eyes filled with a sense of melancholy.

A moment later, at the threshing floor.

Aaron was fully armored, his hand resting on his sword, his expression solemn.

"My Lord Baron?"

Eight-Fingers, dressed in leather armor, stared at the scene, momentarily dazed.

Since the last war, it had been a long time since he had seen Aaron look like this.

"The sheriff's squad, plus the guards, only total thirty-some men. That is completely insufficient!"

Aaron's expression was grave as he shouted, "Issue a conscription order! Every household must provide one adult male; gather one hundred men!"

For a small ancient feudal lord, it was actually difficult to support many full-time soldiers.

Take Sothos Castle, for example; it only maintained about a hundred standing troops, and only after occupying the entire Green Forest had they expanded to several hundred.

The guards in Aaron's territory had always consisted of the veterans he brought with him who were willing to relocate, supplemented by some local recruits, totaling only about thirty men.

But now, knowing there was a massive conspiracy, he naturally had to go all out!

By gathering a hundred militiamen, there would be no roving bandits in the entire Green Forest capable of forcibly taking them down. If there were, they wouldn't be mere bandits—they would be a rival lord!

The reason a conspiracy is a conspiracy is precisely because it cannot be brought into the light!

"Yes, my Lord."

Although Eight-Fingers was somewhat puzzled, he went to relay the order.

Before long, a massive, bustling crowd began to assemble.

As they walked out of the manor, Aaron, still possessing a trace of spirituality, felt the gaze of someone watching him.

He looked in a certain direction and saw no one, but there was a residential house. Without a second thought, he pointed his horse whip: "Surround that place! Arrest everyone and throw them into the dungeon; we'll deal with them when I return!"

"Eight-Fingers, lead the way!"

"Yes!"

Eight-Fingers' expression turned stern, as if he had returned to the army. The group marched in a grand procession toward a certain destination.

In a valley.

The tall Wild Wolf was stroking a crossbow with great affection.

This crossbow was exquisitely crafted, the kind only seen in the military, and he possessed three of them!

Not only that, but one could see that his subordinates all wore leather armor, and their weapons were of high quality, fully reaching the standard of elites in a regular army.

With this kind of lethality, even with fewer men, they were more than capable of fighting a Baron's guard!

Not to mention, it was an ambush!

Last night's attack was merely a lure; by intentionally leaving bloodstains on the road, they intended to guide that lord into a trap!

"Pay attention! Once the target enters the ambush zone, all three crossbows are to aim at that noble lord!"

Wild Wolf sneered, "After we kill him, we'll all get a reward—enough to buy large tracts of farmland in the south and retire in comfort!"

"Don't worry, Boss!"

One-Eyed Dragon, also holding a crossbow, said excitedly, "With this, couldn't we rob any merchant caravan we wanted?"

"Rob? After this job is done, we're leaving this godforsaken place."

Wild Wolf was quite clear-headed; he even understood that he wasn't a wolf, but merely a vicious dog—he had to bite whoever his master told him to!

"But... killing a noble lord isn't bad either."

He licked his lips, a bloodthirsty expression appearing on his face.

"Boss, it's bad!"

A man ran over from the distance; it was their scout, Fast-Leg Rosen. He shouted as he ran, "That noble did come, but he brought over a hundred men!"

"Damn it!"

Wild Wolf spat out a curse, "That little brat is truly a coward!"

He thought for a moment, then said with reluctance, "Abandon the trap, we're retreating! There will be other chances!"

"Boss..." One-Eyed Dragon looked unwilling.

"We are hunters; we only set one trap, yet ten pieces of prey arrived. Even with a trap, it's useless—the remaining beasts will tear you to shreds..." Wild Wolf said with a touch of melancholy.

His mind was finally clear, knowing that his few men were nowhere near enough to kill the opposition.

Even if they traded two or three of their own for one of the enemy, the other side could still bury them through sheer numbers.

Furthermore, the enemy was so vigilant that they might have already discovered something.

Aaron led the main force, letting the scouts lead the way, until they saw a small valley.

"My Lord, the enemy is in the valley!"

Eight-Fingers bowed and said, "There is a camp there."

"Send men in to take a look, and have others search the surroundings."

Aaron remained at the entrance of the valley, not venturing deep, and spoke indifferently.

A moment later, Eight-Fingers returned with a very ugly expression: "There is no one in the valley, but some setups were found outside; they might be traps..."

Speaking of this, his forehead could not help but be covered in cold sweat.

If the Baron hadn't gathered so many people, he would have led a squad in and perhaps died here today!

"What about the direction of Wild Wolf's escape?"

Aaron asked.

"It should be near Knight Yiman's Emerald Territory." Eight-Fingers had observed the footprints and other traces, and said with certainty.

"Perfect, Knight Yiman still owes me a favor. Send out a raven and have him mobilize the militia to assist in the encirclement!"

There was no point in letting a favor go to waste, and since Aaron didn't care much for a Knight like Yiman, he gave the order directly.

He intended to wipe them out in one fell swoop this time. If Knight Yiman proved ineffective, he would use the Pendulum Divination to perform another reading; he would catch them eventually!

Three days later.

Knight Yiman was worthy of being a veteran of this territory; by gathering many hunters to help, he finally allowed Aaron to corner the Wild Wolf Bandit Group outside a hill.

"Lord Baron, shall we launch a frontal assault?"

Looking at the small hill, which was surrounded tightly by hundreds of militiamen, a man dressed like a hunter asked.

They had been sent by Knight Yiman, who had previously instructed them to obey Baron Aaron's orders.

"I thank Knight Yiman for his assistance, but the Wild Wolf bandits are extremely vicious, and a frontal assault would result in casualties..."

Aaron looked at the wind direction and the vegetation and terrain of the hill, then sneered: "Pass the order down: set it on fire. Burn this place to the ground for me!"

Hundreds of people worked together, quickly building firebreaks before lighting torches and setting the mountain ablaze.

On the hill.

"Even if I die, I'll bite a chunk of flesh off them!"

Driven to a dead end, Wild Wolf howled in resentment, but his expression suddenly changed: "This is..."

"Fire... the enemy is setting a fire!"

One-Eyed Dragon shrieked, suddenly dropping his weapon and running down the mountain.

He did not want to be burned or suffocated to death; that was too painful.

Watching this scene, Wild Wolf felt his final wish shatter completely, and he could not help but howl in despair...