Meanwhile, in the woods to the left of Nalant's party, a figure hid behind a large tree, peering at them through the weeds.
"Damn, I've been spotted! I need to get back and report this!" The figure had noticed Nalant and the others' movements and knew he had probably been discovered.
He was very alert, too. He began to back away slowly, doing his best not to make a sound.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
Just then, a few bees flew over his head, but he paid them no mind. Mosquitoes, ants, and other insects were everywhere in the forest; it was perfectly normal.
By the time the buzzing faded, the man had retreated more than ten meters. Just as he turned to flee southwest, he suddenly heard something whistle through the air.
Whoosh!
Thwack!
"Ah! My leg!" With a scream, the man fell to the ground and began wailing in pain. An arrow was embedded in his thigh.
"Quick, go over there and bring him to me!" Hearing the scream from the woods, Nalant gave the order.
Soon, Quick and the guards dragged the man out of the woods.
"Who are you, and why have you trespassed into Storm Territory?" Once the man was brought before him, Nalant furrowed his brow.
The man was fully armed, with a sword and leather armor. He couldn't be an ordinary commoner or bandit.
This world was very poor. Often, even the men serving minor nobles and knights couldn't afford leather armor or swords. It was common for people to go into battle armed with hoes and wooden pitchforks.
"My lord, I'm a guard of Baron Quinte. I lost my way and wandered in here by mistake. Please let me go back. Baron Quinte will surely pay you compensation."
The man's forehead was already beaded with cold sweat from the pain. At Nalant's words, he immediately pleaded with him.
"You lost your way?"
Nalant remained expressionless. He simply turned to Quick and said, "Quick, he's yours!"
That excuse might fool a three-year-old, but it wouldn't fool Nalant.
If the man had truly been lost, he should have come out and explained who he was as soon as he saw Nalant. After all, he had only wandered in by mistake; it wasn't a serious matter.
But he had watched Nalant's group for several minutes, and after being discovered, he had even tried to flee deeper into the woods. No one would believe he wasn't hiding something.
Since he refused to tell the truth, Nalant didn't mind using a few methods to make him talk.
Besides, seeing this guard had given Nalant plenty to think about. The serfs who had gone missing some time ago might not have been taken by magical beasts after all.
"Yes, my lord!" Quick gave the man a bloodthirsty grin, then dragged him off among the trees. Before long, several cries of pain came from the woods.
The cries didn't last long. Quick soon hurried back out.
"My lord, he confessed. He really is one of Baron Quinte's guards, but he didn't wander in here by mistake. He was sent here to keep watch. There's a newly built camp belonging to Baron Quinte in the Buffer Zone not far ahead!"
After a brief pause, Quick continued, "He also confessed that the serfs who went missing some time ago weren't carried off by magical beasts. His men kidnapped them!"
"So that's it. What's that bastard Quinte trying to do?" Nalant's suspicions had been confirmed. He hadn't expected Baron Quinte to be so bold as to reach into Storm Territory. This could spark a conflict between the Tulip Territory and Blackiron Ridge.
And now that Storm Territory belonged to him, Nalant wouldn't allow outsiders to run wild on his land.
"Did he say what the camp in the Buffer Zone was built for?"
"My lord, he only said there's a Yellow Sprite there! He didn't know anything else!"
"A Yellow Sprite? Doesn't that mean there's a mineral deposit?" Nalant was startled. Yellow Sprites were the most valuable of all Sprites. Even if it turned out to be a salt mine, he could still make a fortune.
"Ding! Storm Territory is your land. Baron Quinte's men have been operating on your territory, harming your interests!" "System side quest: Find the location of the camp!" "Quest reward: A new plant species!"
Just then, the long-silent system spoke in Nalant's mind.
"Hmm, the system's finally active again. But the reward is a new plant species?"
Nalant didn't give it much thought. He would have to investigate anyway, so he asked Quick, "Which way is the camp?"
"My lord, it's in the Buffer Zone at the border, three miles ahead!"
"Good. We're heading there to investigate! Leave two guards behind to tie him to a tree and keep watch over him!" Nalant ordered quickly.
"Yes, my lord!"
The party soon set off. A little over ten minutes later, they reached the border three miles away.
But Nalant couldn't see the camp at the border. Dense trees lined both sides of the nearby road, and the only thing ahead was a boundary stone weighing several thousand pounds, carved with the words "Tulip Earldom."
"The camp should be somewhere in the woods in this Buffer Zone!" Nalant looked toward the dense forest beyond the boundary stone.
The Buffer Zone was just what its name suggested: an uninhabited border strip set aside between the territories of nobles.
It was a practice that had developed to prevent disputes between nobles from escalating.
Officially, the Buffer Zone belonged to neither side. Instead, it belonged to the liege lord they both served.
For example, the Buffer Zone between the Tulip Earldom and the Blackiron Earldom belonged to the king of the duchy.
However, a Buffer Zone was usually a long, narrow strip about three kilometers wide, and the liege lords who held the rights to it never actually managed or developed it.
Over time, the vassals had formed an unspoken rule: they divided the Buffer Zone in half and developed their respective sides. The only requirement was that they could not build camps or station troops there.
Breaking that rule meant violating the unspoken agreement.
"Sherry, have your bees scout the forest!" The reason they had found Quinte's scout so quickly earlier was Sherry's bees.
Nalant had discovered Sherry's true value that day. Before she became a powerful beast tamer, she could serve as an excellent scout.
"All right, my lord!" Sherry nodded excitedly, then murmured a few words to the bees. They buzzed into the air.
The Buffer Zone was covered in dense woods. Searching it on foot would take a long time, but the bees only needed to fly a few dozen meters up to get a clear view of everything.
Only seconds passed before a few bees flew back.
"My lord, the bees told me there's a camp in the woods ahead!"
"Good! Everyone, follow me! We're going to take a look!"
With the Little Bee leading the way, Nalant and the others walked into the woods.
After only four or five minutes, the trees ahead suddenly opened up. The once-dense forest in the Buffer Zone had been completely cleared, replaced by a camp surrounded by wooden stakes.
Calling it a camp was an understatement. It was practically a simple fortress. A wooden palisade made of five- or six-meter-tall logs surrounded it.
People could walk along the top of the wall, and a towering watchtower stood every dozen meters or so. A Longbowman could be seen patrolling inside each one!
Clang, clang, clang!
As Nalant and the others appeared at the edge of the clearing, the guards keeping watch on the wall spotted them. The camp immediately rang with the urgent toll of an alarm bell.