Once the footsteps outside the tent had faded, the young viscount, having finally faced reality and made up his mind, let out a long sigh:
"Well."
He looked at the guards beside him and asked softly:
" Saili, what do you think about this?"
"Your Excellency, I am merely a guard..."
The middle-aged guard lowered his head in frustration, seemingly saddened that he couldn't offer any advice.
"Okay, Saili."
The young viscount suddenly spoke to himself:
"I think he's right. That centurion makes a lot of sense. I've been jumping around for so long, but I'm still just a monkey."
"Don't say that, sir."
" Saili, can I trust you?"
"Of course, my lord."
"No, let me ask you another question—are you loyal to the Lang Family or to me?"
"..."
"Difficult to answer?"
"On the contrary, sir, that's easy to answer."
The guard named Saili said in a low but firm voice:
"I will remain loyal to you, Viscount Lange."
"Oh?"
The young viscount looked up in surprise:
"That's strange."
The viscount's curiosity was within Saili's expectations, and he said in a low voice:
"I was drugged during the martial arts competition and ultimately lost to the old marquis's current knight commander, which is why I was assigned to your command."
The viscount paused for a moment, then burst into laughter:
"So you were one of those who got ostracized too! Hahahaha, I had no idea before."
He patted Saili's back gently and said earnestly:
"Your father and brother will regret losing you."
The middle-aged guard said nothing more. He knelt on one knee and then presented the sword at his waist with both hands.
A surge of strength rose within the young viscount, and he propped himself up to stand. He drew Saili's knight's sword and lightly tapped it on Seri's shoulder, completing the knighthood ceremony.
"... As your lord's sharpest sword, I will clear away all obstacles for you!"
"I accept your allegiance, Saili Seri."
The viscount returned the longsword to the guard, who had now entered the ranks of the nobility.
"Now, let's carry out my first task—"
"Go and tell [ Practice More If You're Bad ] everything that happened tonight, and remind him to protect his men."
"If he asks you why I gave this instruction, tell him: 'What I need are real warriors, not a pack of old, arrogant wolves.'"
"Tell them, tell the border people of Green Forest Territory: 'I'm willing to give everything for victory, even my soul for the devil!'"
"Yes, my lord."
Saili bowed and quickly disappeared into the tent.
The night, rife with undercurrents, ultimately maintained a basic level of peace, but an unseen net was already slowly being cast.
In this conspiracy, some are the fishermen, some are the fishing nets, and some are...
"Ouch! Why did you bump into me?!"
The dozing centurion felt as if he had bumped into a wall. He opened his sleepy eyes and saw [ Practice More If You're Bad ] with an apologetic expression on his face.
"I was still half asleep, I'm so sorry..."
He nodded repeatedly to the centurion in apology:
"Want to come to our hundred-man team's camp for some soup? You know, the mountain people of Green Forest Territory are very good at it."
"Hmm..."
Although he wanted to kill his opponent, the centurion maintained a basic poker face.
"Okay, then I'll trouble you."
Cursing the man in his heart, the centurion went to the camp next to his own hundred men.
On the fire in the early morning, a small, thin-bottomed pot covered with tin was placed on the fire. Two savages from the Green Forest Territory were picking various plants from their bodies and throwing them into the pot, while another person was stirring vigorously with a long-handled wooden spoon, as if brewing some kind of witch's soup.
However, despite the bizarre and outrageous manufacturing process, a peculiar aroma still uncontrollably entered the centurion's nostrils.
If he lived in another world, he would be even more astonished by the mixed stew of wild delicacies before him, after all, you couldn't find fresher ingredients anywhere in the world—it truly is freshly picked and cooked to order!
Soon, a bowl of steaming hot vegetable soup was served to the centurion.
[ Practice More If You're Bad ] and a group of elite players gathered around the campfire and began to drink heartily, while the centurion from the nearby hundred-man squad was not to be outdone and immediately joined the special squad fighting against the thick soup.
He wasn't worried that these guys would harm him; after all, the plan was only devised yesterday, and he didn't even know how to implement it, so how could these potential victims know?
What's more, the other party actually invited me to the camp for a meal, which was an incredible stroke of luck. I had only glanced at it a few times and already had a general understanding of the camp's layout, which would make it much easier if I really wanted to set it on fire later.
As everyone wolfed down their food, the first quartermaster to finish his soup let out a satisfied burp and suddenly asked [ Practice More If You're Bad ] in a somewhat lazy tone:
"Centurion, what is our mission today?"
[ Practice More If You're Bad ] He put down the soup bowl and said to him:
"Your ten-man squad and [ Howling Pothos ]'s ten-man squad will rest during the day. As soon as it gets dark, they'll move out immediately to see who took over the sandcastle that the Pothos brothers captured."
He took two sips of the hot soup and then scoffed:
"Damn it, we haven't even finished moving everything from inside last time. That was equipment for over a hundred people... and that damn skeleton got it for free... Hey, why are you always poking at me like that..."
[ Practice More If You're Bad ] paused, as if realizing something, and immediately stopped talking, pretending nothing had happened. The slurping sound of drinking soup resumed, even louder than before.
Um?
Haven't you finished moving everything yet?
Equipment for over a hundred people?
Upon detecting the keyword, a centurion's ears immediately perked up.
"Well..."
A strange voice rang out, and everyone looked in the direction of the sound, only to realize that there seemed to be an extra person at breakfast today who shouldn't be there.
The Practice More If You're Bad of the 100-man squad all changed their expressions at once. Seeing this, they realized that they had let something Practice More If You're Bad.
He immediately stood up, helped the centurion beside him to his feet, and prepared to take him away.
They were just trying to get me out of there!
The centurion sneered inwardly.
They really are a bunch of savages, guarding their food like dogs!
In that situation just now, if [ the Practice More If You're Bad ] tries to recruit me, he definitely has ulterior motives.
But their first instinct was to leave, and some even considered violence!
The equipment of over a hundred people—how many of those were standard-issue crossbows from the Skeleton Alliance?
Pulled by [ Practice More If You're Bad ] to the outside of the camp area, and seeing that the other was about to say something, the centurion quickly spoke first:
"Hey bro, isn't that a bit unfair of you?"