Southern Mine

Duke was naturally grateful to Uncle John's family.

If they had not helped him, he might have starved to death long ago.

So after learning of this, Duke's first thought was naturally to go to the Southern Mine and look for Uncle John.

But he quickly calmed down. The Southern Mine was Earl Hardy's property, and normally, nothing should go wrong there.

If something had happened there, the implications behind it might not be simple.

Duke had some confidence in his own strength, but he was not arrogant.

As his strength increased, he had begun to feel a sense of threat from Wood.

This meant there was probably still a considerable gap between him and a knight-level powerhouse. He could not act rashly.

Duke quickly thought of asking Mr. Wood for help. The man had strength, prestige, and connections. Once he learned of this, he certainly would not stand by and do nothing. It would be far better than Duke going alone.

"I'll go with you." Loy was also at a loss right now. The moment she heard Wood's name, it was as if she had grasped a lifeline.

The two left Yining Village one after the other and quickened their pace toward Enderland Town.

After walking for a while, Duke realized that Loy was moving too slowly and could not keep up with him at all.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Sister Loy, let me carry you. We'll be faster that way."

Loy's face reddened slightly. After hesitating for a moment, she nodded. "All right."

Duke immediately crouched down and carried Loy on his back, his hands gripping her legs. He could feel her soft body pressed tightly against his back, the sensation exceptionally pleasant.

He did not pay much attention to that. Once Loy was on his back, he went all out and sprinted forward.

The original Duke had actually liked Loy very much and had even secretly been in love with this girl next door.

But from Duke's perspective, he did not feel particularly moved. Her looks were very ordinary, though her figure was indeed excellent.

Loy was only seventeen, but her body had already developed quite maturely. To boys of that age, she was indeed very alluring.

The journey from Yining Village to Enderland Town usually took an hour on foot.

This time, Duke reached Enderland Town from Yining Village in only half an hour, even while carrying a girl who weighed over ninety pounds.

When Duke arrived at the entrance of the town, he was only slightly out of breath. He had not expended much stamina.

His exceptional physique gave him tremendous endurance and physical strength. This level of exertion was nothing to him.

After learning of the matter, Wood's expression turned solemn. "It seems something really has happened there. I've received some related information as well."

It turned out that even before Duke arrived, Wood had already noticed abnormalities at the Southern Mine through a few clues.

Wood immediately picked up a quill from the table and wrote a letter. He handed it to a member of the militia to deliver to Earl Hardy. Then he put on his chainmail, took up his weapon, and said, "Let's go take a look at the Southern Mine. Duke, you're coming too."

Duke nodded. Naturally, he had no reason to refuse.

Wood placed great importance on this operation and brought twenty militia members to the Southern Mine.

The Enderland Town militia had only a little over fifty men in total. He had taken nearly half of them away at once.

Wood was the only one in the group riding a horse. Everyone else followed on foot.

Horses were far too expensive. Ordinary people simply could not afford them. Only a knight like Wood could possibly be equipped with one.

It was said that Wood's horse had also been bestowed upon him by Earl Hardy. He personally cared for it every day, and it ate better than most commoners.

In Duke's eyes, it was simply a gold-eating beast. Even if someone gave it to him, he could not afford to raise it.

The Southern Mine was some distance from Enderland Town. The group spent most of the day before arriving.

By then, night had fallen. Wood ordered everyone not to light torches and to advance through the darkness.

The moonlight in the night sky provided them with some illumination. Once their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they could see their surroundings clearly enough.

After the group approached the mine, they found several people guarding the entrance. Torches were lit all over inside, and faint roars and the crack of whips could be heard.

"Move it! If these ten carts aren't filled, nobody gets food tomorrow!"

"Get up! Stop playing dead on the ground!"

"So what if you lost one hand? Can't you carry ore with the other one?"

As they drew closer, the sounds inside became clearer.

Wood raised a hand, signaling everyone to stop. He turned around and said, "The people guarding the entrance aren't ours. And according to the mine's rules, work does not continue at night. No matter where these people came from, they have already encroached upon Earl Hardy's property. They are our sworn enemies as well."

He quickly assigned everyone their tasks. Duke's task was to rush in after the people at the entrance had been shot and clear out the people on the left.

They had roughly figured out the situation inside. There were only sixteen people above ground, but they had no idea how many were below the mine.

The night wind swept past, bringing a trace of cold and several arrows.

The four guards patrolling the entrance with torches were pierced through the necks and chests by arrows, collapsing to the ground with agonized wails.

The disturbance naturally caught the attention of those inside. Just as they were about to come out and investigate, they ran straight into Duke and the others charging in.

Wood rushed at the front, wielding a broad longsword. With a simple downward slash, a cold gleam cut through the night.

A line of blood appeared on the man before him, and then his entire chest was split in two, his body ripped open. Blood and flesh spilled out in torrents, and a thick, pungent stench of blood rose into the air.

Most of the people Wood had brought this time were veterans, but there were also four newcomers like Duke, all promising prospects he thought highly of.

The reason he had brought the newcomers was naturally to temper them.

Only after being baptized in blood could they grow into true warriors.

"A training ground cannot produce a real knight." Those were the words of a knight who had once taught Wood, and Wood had always kept them firmly in mind.

The veterans in the group were used to such scenes. Their movements did not pause in the slightest as they immediately engaged the people ahead in battle.

The newcomers besides Duke were different. None of them had ever seen such a bloody scene, and all of them instinctively slowed their pace.

Those with weaker nerves even vomited on the spot, clearly no longer capable of fighting.

The slightly braver ones merely gripped their iron swords tightly and charged forward with their heads down, not daring to look at the horrifying corpses on the ground.

Duke only frowned slightly, without much turmoil in his heart.

He found it strange that he could remain so calm, without much fear. Only the smell made him somewhat uncomfortable.

Duke did not hesitate at all. With a light push off the ground, he shot toward an enemy ahead on the right.