Tranquility 2

Only then did Anglie react. He hurriedly rushed over, opened the door, and followed him downstairs.

He quickly ran outside the tower. On the training ground, the Baron was already standing there with a squad of heavily armored Swordsmen. His right hand gripped the slender sword at his waist, his eyes flashing like lightning as he swept them over the dozen or so warriors before him.

"Who was following behind Anglie that day?" The Baron's voice was incomparably low.

The squad of Swordsmen stirred uneasily and exchanged glances, yet no one stepped forward.

The Baron drew a breath and softened his tone. "Step forward on your own, and I will not punish you further. For failing to protect the young master, take twenty military lashes and be done with it. Otherwise, when I uncover the truth later, do not blame me for being merciless."

The moment those words left his mouth, the assembled Swordsmen visibly relaxed. Two of them, one burly and one thin, stepped out side by side.

"My lord Baron, Hank and I failed in our duty to protect him. Please punish us." One of them spoke loudly.

The Baron nodded.

"Someone, bring the military whip!"

A soldier watching from behind hurriedly ran toward the armory. But at that moment, the Baron suddenly drew his sword with his right hand.

Clang!

Two hissing sounds rang out. Golden light flashed from the slender sword as it stabbed into the two Swordsmen's heads in succession. Then it was sheathed like lightning.

With two dull thuds, the two Swordsmen who had stepped forward fell stiffly to the ground. Blood and brain matter slowly seeped from their heads.

The entire training ground fell deathly silent.

"Anglie is my son! You failed to protect him—were you deliberately trying to send him to his death? Or were you trying to make my Leo Family die without an heir?" The Baron laughed coldly. "You watched the young master enter the forest alone and did not risk your lives to stop him. That meant you wanted Anglie dead—you wanted my future heir, Kyle Leo, dead!!" The Baron's tone grew increasingly severe. "For the sake of the years you have followed me, I will spare your families."

"Someone! Drag them away and burn them!" he shouted.

Everyone—the heavily armored Swordsmen, the cavalry squad and Apprentice Knights watching nearby, along with the great crowd of servants and maids—did not even dare breathe loudly, afraid of provoking the Baron in his current fury. The entire training ground remained silent.

Two soldiers stepped forward and silently cleared away the corpses.

"I am leaving the castle. Prepare leather armor and weapons!" the Baron ordered in a deep voice.

"Yes." A soldier, his face slightly pale, answered respectfully and hurried toward the armory.

Standing beneath the main tower, Anglie watched as the two Swordsmen who had been following him all this time were instantly stabbed to death by the Baron. A chill ran through his heart, and he gained an even deeper understanding of the Baron's temperament.

From afar, he watched the Baron put on brown leather armor edged with gold, take up that giant sword as wide as a human head, and leave the castle alone, heading toward the nearby woods.

Anglie knew that the Baron had surely gone to find that Raging Mountain Bear.

"Father..." Anglie murmured softly. His right hand unconsciously closed around the hilt at his waist. This doting, almost crushing fatherly love made it hard for him to breathe.

He knew that the Baron's killing this time had also been meant for him to see. If he cared about the people around him, then he would have to consider the consequences his actions might bring them.

Half an hour later, a tremendous bear's roar suddenly rang out from the forest around the castle, followed by the ear-piercing screech of clashing metal.

Not long after, the Baron emerged from the woods, his figure somewhat disheveled. Blood stained the corner of his mouth, and his left arm was clearly fractured, twisted at an unnatural angle. Yet there was a faint smile on his face.

All the soldiers and servants waiting outside the castle to receive him, along with old Ward and the Baron's sons and daughters, silently watched as the Baron approached step by step.

In his right hand, he held upside down a heavy slab of black flesh. The fur on it was precisely that of the Raging Mountain Bear Anglie had encountered before.

Standing among the crowd, Anglie's lips moved slightly. He was the only one present who had directly faced the Raging Mountain Bear, so naturally he knew what kind of strength and price it took to carve such a large chunk of flesh from that colossal beast.

"Quick!! Go summon the chief healer!" Ward shouted. The crowd immediately erupted into commotion. Some ran toward the castle, while most hurried toward the Baron, scrambling to support him.

As Anglie watched his father draw nearer and nearer, his eyes grew a little moist.

He took several steps forward. The people around him consciously made way for him.

Anglie supported the Baron with both hands. At that moment, there was no Baron in his heart—only his father. In that instant, the Baron's figure overlapped with that of his father from his previous life.

"Anglie." The Baron smiled at him. "I will protect you, so long as I am still alive." His tone was so resolute that Anglie's heart grew faintly sour.

Never before had Anglie been so certain. He had completely and utterly come to regard the Baron as his own biological father.

Ten days had passed since the Baron drove away the Raging Mountain Bear.

Every day, Anglie remained in the castle, diligently consuming Blue Bamboo Shoots to nourish and strengthen his body. He had originally wanted his father to strengthen himself alongside him, but after the Chip secretly conducted a test, it concluded that only a tiny amount of one ingredient within the Blue Bamboo Shoots was effective for him, and even that came with tremendous limitations. It seemed that his constitution differed from those around him. Thus, Blue Bamboo Shoots were strengthening food for him, but for the Baron, they were merely standard laxatives with no effect at all. This left him somewhat frustrated.

The difference in constitution meant that what suited him might be entirely unsuitable for the Baron. He had initially believed that no one had discovered their effects because of the method of consumption. Now, it seemed he had thought too simply.

Yet while this issue disappointed him, it also relieved one of his concerns. He had once worried that his strange eating habits would lead people to discover the secret of strengthening one's physique. But now, it appeared there was no need to worry at all.

At noon, Anglie sat at one end of the dining hall's long table, facing the Baron across from him. Along both sides of the table sat the wife the Baron had married later, as well as the sons and daughters she had borne afterward. Of course, their actual number was far greater than these dozen or so; these were merely the ones most favored by the Baron.

More than ten dishes were laid out on the table. The aroma of stewed meat, green vegetables, tender yellow flesh from some strange fish, and an enormous cooked beef leg protruding straight out of its platter, raised high and particularly eye-catching.

The Baron narrowed his eyes slightly as he quietly cut the beef before him. From time to time, he elegantly speared a piece with his fork and placed it in his mouth. More than ten maids stood behind the diners, responsible for serving dishes and ladling soup for everyone.

Ward stood respectfully behind the Baron, dressed in black noble attire, his grizzled hair neatly tied into a bundle behind his head.

At this dining table, the Baron was the sole authority. If he did not speak, no one dared open their mouth first. Anglie was naturally an exception, but he did not really have anything to say either.

Everyone ate without making a sound. With the Baron present, even the meal carried an oppressive atmosphere.

Over the past few days, Anglie had vaguely heard new rumors about the Baron from the guards returning from shifts outside. His increasingly sharp five senses allowed him to hear anyone speaking clearly from more than ten meters away.

He had heard that because the Baron had driven away a Raging Mountain Bear alone—such a terrifying feat of facing the overlord of the mountains and forests with a human body alone—combined with the Baron's past rumors, experiences, and mercurial temperament, people throughout the territory and neighboring territories had begun secretly calling Baron Kyle the Nightmare Lord.

Nightmare Lord meant powerful as a nightmare, mysterious, terrifying, and impossible to resist. Even the Baron's two great subordinates, Audis and Ward, had been draped in a layer of dark radiance.

Anglie carefully placed a slice of mushroom into his mouth. The delicious, juicy fried mushroom meat could not compare to the Chinese dishes of his previous life, but it had its own distinct flavor. The only regret was that the castle's staple food was not rice, but bread. Nobles ate white bread, while servants and maids more often ate dry, hard black bread. Bread dipped in vegetable soup was the main way of eating here. Anglie was somewhat unaccustomed to it.

More than twenty minutes had passed, and the meal was still not over.

The Baron lifted the final bowl of mouth-rinsing soup and was about to drink. Suddenly, a guard in leather armor hurried into the dining hall from outside. The guard was stopped at the door by an attendant. Ward walked over, listened to the guard's report, and his expression changed slightly. He quickly went to the Baron's side and whispered something.

None of the others seated there heard what was said. Only Anglie, with the Chip's assistance, heard every word clearly.

"Audis discovered an iron mine in his territory. Its scale may be considerable. You had better go take a look personally," Ward whispered into the Baron's ear.

"Iron mine?" The Baron's expression brightened. To a lord, there could never be too much iron ore. This important resource of war was undoubtedly the greatest foundation of military strength. Its importance needed no explanation.

"Not a moment was delayed between the discovery and the report reaching us. We should depart immediately," Ward said softly.

The Baron pondered for a moment, his right hand unconsciously pressing against his left arm. His injuries had not fully healed yet, but the matter of an iron mine was of utmost importance, and he could not concern himself with that now.

"You need not go. I will make the trip myself. Ward, remain behind to guard the castle," he ordered.

"Very well." Ward froze briefly before immediately agreeing. "Your injuries have not healed yet. I think it would be better if I accompanied you."

"It is fine." The Baron waved his hand.