"No! No! Oh God! Merciful Goddess above!" The farmer saw several black shadows on the horizon, almost scared out of his wits.
A group of bandits, riding poor horses and brandishing war axes and longbows, charged towards the family in the middle of the road.
"Run! Run!" The farmer instinctively signaled for his family to escape: "I'll hold them off! Run!"
"What nonsense are you talking about! You're the only labor here; this family can live without me, but not without you!" The farmer's father, the boy's grandfather, picked up a pitchfork, his old face full of resolve: "You all run!"
"Quick!!!" With that, the old man charged straight towards the direction of the bandits.
The two children stood there dazed, too young to comprehend what was happening.
"Grand... Grandpa?" The boy stood frozen, staring at his grandfather's back: "Grand... Grandpa?"
"Run, Lucas! Clara! Sob sob~" The farmer's wife grabbed her two children and fled desperately, tears brimming in her eyes as she realized her husband's father was buying them time with his life.
"Father!!!" The farmer placed his mother on the handcart, pushing with all his might. They were not far from Mijordenhaven now; if they could just escape for a little longer, there might be a chance of survival.
"Hand over all your valuables!" From afar, the greedy voices of the bandits could barely be heard.
But the sudden response left the family frozen in place.
"That's right, I mean you, hand over all your valuables to me! And then... leave your lives here too!" A knight suddenly appeared by the roadside, clad in full chain armor and chest armor, riding a war horse. A White Wolf Knight Badge hung on his chest, and he shouted at the approaching bandits with a warhammer in his hand.
His voice was even greedier than the bandits'.
"FUCK! It's a White Wolf Knight! It's a trap! Everybody retreat!" Five bandits had charged over, drawn by the cries of the children, only to encounter a White Wolf Knight?!
The lead bandit, short in stature, wielding a long spear, and riding a short, poor horse, was so frightened by the appearance of the White Wolf Knight that he quickly pulled the reins. His horse, with poor reflexes, stumbled, causing the bandit to fall face-first into the dirt.
"Give it to me!" Laine rode past the old man, decisively snatching the pitchfork from his hands.
"Of... of course, honorable Lord Knight!!!" The old man's hand was empty, and he responded instinctively.
Laine threw the pitchfork hard, piercing through the sound barrier as it flew through the air, embedding itself into the first bandit's chest and knocking him off his horse, while also taking down another bandit.
"No choice but to fight to the death!" Only two bandits remained, aware that their poor and weak horses could not match Laine's war horse. Thus, they turned their horses around, preparing for a desperate fight.
Laine's horse was fast. As the two bandits turned, Laine had already passed them.
Two heads fell to the ground.
The rest was simple. With a smile, Laine ignored the bandits' desperate pleas, finishing off the remaining three bandits, then picked up the pitchfork and handed it back to the old man: "Here you go."
"Thank... thank you, White Wolf Knight Sir!" The old man immediately reached out to take it, then knelt down, deeply moved: "Thank you! You saved our lives, may we know your name?"
"I'm Laine, 'Great Hammer' Laine."
When Laine arrived at Mijordenhaven, he led several horses, carrying tattered armor and weapons.
These items could be sold for a good price on the black market, Laine thought to himself.
Thinking about making a fortune without lifting a finger, Laine felt quite pleased.
Because if the opponent were bandits, Laine could rightfully become a "bandit" himself, using violence to seize everything from them. As a Kingdom Knight, he was obliged to maintain law and order within the Kingdom's borders, so everything he did was legal.
Unlike the bandits he let go on Hodalen Mountain before, those bandits were villagers who couldn't survive and were forced into the life of banditry out of desperation. In such cases, Laine's ideal solution was to kill a few leaders and disperse the villagers whose consciences had not yet disappeared.
But for those bandits who specifically rob on highways, attacking travelers and farmers, Laine felt there was no need for mercy. Letting them go would be releasing a tiger back to the mountains; with blood on their hands from innocent travelers and villagers, the only mercy was executing them on the spot.
And then their ill-gotten wealth would become his.
The good mood didn't last long once he noticed the situation at the city gate, completely dispelling his previous mood.
Soldiers were running continuously along the city walls, all sorts of defensive equipment being assembled and reinforced. Officers shouted loudly for the soldiers to hurry, while strictly inspecting those wanting to enter the city, searching for possible Barbarian spies. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novel-fire.ɴet
The Barbarians had arrived! This was the intelligence Laine had obtained from the villagers he met earlier.
"Crushing Bear" Bireg had led over four thousand Barbarian troops deep into the Nord territory, pillaging and burning everywhere. As most troops were on the front lines resisting Barbarian invasion, Nord's internal defenses were weak. By the time the King of Nod finally redirected forces to deal with Bireg, the Barbarian army had carved a bloody path through the Nord territory.