Chapter 61

"Did you... have dinner yet?"

Luo Di, with his injured hand trembling slightly, moved the campfire a bit, his eyes fixed on the roasting meat, and asked in a very relaxed tone.

"No... I haven't."

"If you haven't, would you like some?"

He casually took a piece of meat from the campfire, and Soderlor could see it was a lamb chop. Considering the surroundings, he could almost be certain this was something the orcs had plundered from Kri Village—knowing this, he lost his appetite.

Luo Di seemed to understand his feelings and didn't ask again. He took a bite himself, his expression no longer smiling. Staring at the campfire, his gaze seemed somewhat cold. He chewed the not-so-delicious lamb chop slowly, and after a long while, he continued, "Do you think it's inappropriate to eat such things at a time like this?"

Soderlor didn't say anything, but it was as if he had acknowledged it.

"Did you go to Kri Village first?"

"Just came from there, no one... survived."

"Right, the Wolf Riders never leave anyone alive." Luo Di nodded and continued eating the lamb chop. "Strangely, I feel that after such an event, everything has become simpler."

Soderlor didn't understand what he meant, raising his eyebrows and asking, "Simpler?"

"Exactly." Luo Di pointed to the deformed corpse of Kosa nearby, then raised the lamb chop in his hand. "You see, the essence of the matter is simple: the orcs want to eat, so they kill, massacre villages, and plunder these things."

"And I, not wanting them to eat or plunder from us, so... I came to kill them and take back the things."

Luo Di's expression was very indifferent, but his words left Soderlor in shock—

"This world is like this, the things in your hands will always be coveted by someone. What to do? Either kill those who covet, or become such a failure."

He pointed to the orc corpses scattered on the ground and sighed slightly.

"Ha, how simple."

Soderlor stood beside him, not knowing how to respond, his heart profoundly shaken—"If you provoke me, I'll kill you"—such a thing sounds simple, but it's far from something that can be done easily. The other side was an entire Wolf Rider camp, and Luo Di's scout team only had fifteen people. The result of such a clash was the complete annihilation of the orcs?

Ruge came to report the battle situation. When he heard that "three were lightly injured, no one died," he finally understood that his previous idea of showing off the scouts' combat power in front of Luo Di was indeed rather laughable.

Fifteen scouts, thirty-three Wolf Riders, zero deaths.

Such a thing, besides "miracle," Soderlor and his subordinates could think of no other words to describe it. The words that remained in their minds were "reverence," "adoration," "prostration."

"Let's finish up, gather, and return to the village."

After finishing the lamb chop, Luo Di wiped his mouth as if he had just had a work meal at a restaurant. His gaze turned to Soderlor and the scouts behind him, and it seemed he had just remembered the issue of organization. He smiled and said, "Fellow colleagues, welcome to the Nolan Village Scout Team. However, there might be some things that Lieutenant Soderlor hasn't explained to you, so I'll briefly mention them."

He cleared his throat, and under the orange glow of the campfire, his smiling face seemed even more unfathomable to these "new members."

"Besides patrolling the border and warning of danger, we will inevitably encounter some additional situations. When such things happen... if I can handle it myself, I usually won't choose to inform the knights at the fort."

"Do you understand?"

In front of the burning camp, Luo Di's casual words made these originally proud scouts feel an overwhelming pressure. It also made them vaguely sense the unshown... obsessive confidence behind his words.

...

Time passed, and before they knew it, mid-June had arrived.

The news of the border villages being massacred by orcs quickly spread throughout the Efta territory, but as Soderlor had expected, apart from the lord of those villages, Kirk, feeling a bit frustrated, the other nobles had no intention of "revenge."

Expressing indignation verbally was enough. Even Lord Kirk himself didn't shout about seeking revenge against the orcs, so others naturally enjoyed the peace. During the toasts at banquets, the upper class and nobles would lament, "These orcs are truly despicable," "They are utterly heartless," showing their compassion or boasting, "If such an event happened in my territory, I would definitely do this and that."

Then, everything would continue as usual.

Similar scenes played out everywhere, and on June 17th, at a banquet in Holier City, Earl Francis seemed uninterested in such matters.

Originally just a simple auction, after a few bottles of vintage wine were sold for hundreds of gold coins, the main content of the banquet became the socializing among the nobles and ladies. The discussion about the "Kri Village" incident was naturally brought up among the nobles—

"Kirk will probably lose a lot of tax revenue this year. Finks Village, Kri Village, the orcs really know how to pick their spots."

"I heard that the Conseton Fort sent a large detachment to chase the orcs in the grasslands, and they really killed a lot of orcs."

"Baron, you're joking... those fort cavalry are good at bluffing, do you and I really believe they can catch up to the Wolf Riders and fight them?"

"Ha ha ha, Lord Durant, I just heard it— if you want reliable information, we're all waiting for you to tell us."

The leading earl in the small circle was named "Durant," a major lord under Duke Angmar, whose territory covered the northwest of Efta. Lord Kirk was one of his subordinate nobles.

"Me? I have nothing to say. The guys from Conseton didn't go far. They probably got lucky and ran into a few war wolves, spent a lot of effort catching some, and came back acting like they had wiped out a Wolf Rider squad. It's amazing they can even say such things."

"Is that true? Those war wolves—"

"The war wolves aren't fake. Perhaps the Wolf Riders suddenly changed their minds, left a few that couldn't run, and rolled back to their lair?"

When such words were spoken, the nobles all laughed, not bothering to pursue the matter further. At this moment, Francis happened to be walking by with a glass of wine, and the leading Earl Durant narrowed his eyes and said, "Speaking of which, Earl Francis, I think the scout organization set up by the Lucifer family on the border doesn't seem to be effective. When such things happen, there was no resistance at all?"

Such a question was somewhat sharp. Clearly, the border lords did not like the duke placing such an organization on their territory—the scout team operated outside the local lord's jurisdiction, and this had always been a point of contention and conflict. In the past, Duke Angmar could suppress it with his authority, but now, the young Francis could not make these lords take it seriously.

So, in a sense, Durant's question was already a form of pressure on the Lucifer family.

"Ha... Earl Durant, that's a bit unfair—scouts are only for early warning. When the disaster struck Kri Village, the scout team probably gave an early warning, but unfortunately, the orcs were too powerful, and no one from the entire scout team managed to escape. My people reported that the scouts fought bravely before they died... clearly, they sacrificed themselves to protect the villagers. Such behavior should not be criticized, right?"

Francis's mind was indeed sharp. A few words refuted the other's point and used the word "sacrifice" to define the situation, leaving the other side unable to continue the discussion about the scouts—though he was well aware of the real situation, he couldn't say it outright.

Earl Durant smiled, with no intention of continuing the confrontation. Such probing was enough, and he shrugged,

The topic then shifted to the year's popular fashion and a jeweler's work in the southern territory, subtly avoiding the "scout organization" issue.

On this side, although Francis maintained a smile on his face, his heart was already in turmoil. The failure of the "deal" with Sarota had already planted a thorn in his heart. To be honest, being a "traitor" was not an easy thing. Whenever someone mentioned the threat of orcs, he felt as if they were indirectly mocking him.

This was a common ailment of traitors—anxiety, paranoia, and heightened sensitivity, making him feel that everyone was about to expose him. Francis's mood had worsened recently, and it was all because of his still-living sister.

He tried to find the mysterious person who saved Sally, but his search seemed to be in the wrong direction. He thought it was a noble's guardian knight—such an idea was normal because no one would think a group of scouts could cause any trouble—so these days, he had been focusing on investigating these noble guards. Each time he saw a glimmer of hope, the final evidence proved he was looking in the wrong place.

This frustration made him very upset, and Sally's peaceful seclusion in the convent made him even more uneasy.

With no mood to stay, Francis left early and returned to the duke's residence. As he was about to enter his room, he saw the butler Alpha carrying dinner to his father's bedroom.

He looked at the door he hadn't entered for a long time, ultimately lacking the courage to face his father—though the young Francis could be ruthless to his sister, his deep-seated fear of his father prevented him from crossing that final "threshold."

Patricide and usurpation? Francis didn't dare—perhaps in time he might have such thoughts, but at this moment, he couldn't even imagine such a possibility.

Standing in the corridor for a long time, he saw the butler Alpha come out with the dinner tray after a short while. Feeling puzzled, he asked, "Father... doesn't want to eat?"

The butler was surprised to see him still there, immediately lowered his head, and softly replied, "Sir... he only ate a little and didn't want to eat anymore."

Francis's wrist moved, as if he wanted to take the tray and enter the room, but he ultimately restrained himself, waving his hand and saying, "It's fine... next time, have the chef change the dishes. I... I'll go now."

Taking a deep breath, Francis returned to his room. However, the young earl, preoccupied with his struggle against Sally, didn't notice the faint gray light in the butler's eyes.

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