Outside of Wilsden’s Northern exit

A couple of knights, their weapons raised, were looking at the small army that stopped right outside the settlement.

Unlike Julie’s knights, which were more experienced, the regular guards were scared shitless as they looked at the tall and frightening humanoids.

Their bodies were not dissimilar to humans, but their heads made them look weird and a bit creepy.

Some of them held unfamiliar firearms whereas a couple wielded relatively massive hammers that were made with unknown dark-golden alloys and protruding pipes.

Last but not least, there were a couple of large machinery at the back. They were several meters in height, quite bulky and slightly resembled catapults or cannons.

To capture a small town like Wilsden, this seemed like a total overkill.

Captain of 2nd Artillery Division, Firan Ek Sol, who towered over the rest of the Armans, stepped forward. He knew that the Lord Consul didn’t like to take any chances, which was why he sent such a big force to capture Wilsden.

As he was ordered not to spill blood unless absolutely necessary, Firan and his men didn’t attack Wilsden.

“I am Firan Ek Sol, a Captain under the Lord Consul of the Arman Empire. I need to talk to the Baron.”

As there was no one with authority, Firan spoke to one of the knights.

In response, the knight frowned and got ready to attack. For him, the Armans looked like monstrous machines, especially with those wide and rectangular metallic heads.

None of them had a mouth, so to speak, nevertheless, the voice that came out of the head was clarion.

“Wilsden will be under the authority and protection of the Arman Empire. Do not resist.”

Sensing the Knights getting tense and about to retaliate, Firan warned them. The Armans soldiers threateningly banged on the ground in unison, which did scare the knights, at least enough to stop them from doing anything reckless.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the ruler of Wildsen, Julie Lernon, to appear. She was accompanied by almost all of her knights, who didn’t number a lot compared to half of the 2nd Arman Artillery Division.

Julie stopped near the town’s gate, first sweeping her eyes across the Arman and then focusing on the Captain.

Before she could talk, however, Leiu, who had also accompanied her, kept walking forward. He stopped a couple of feet away from Firan.

“Who do you answer to?”

Albeit confused, Firan still responded, “Lord Consul Kirn Sparrow.”

“The Arman Hound?”

Hearing this long-forgotten title, Firan was momentarily stupefied. At first, he didn’t pay Leiu much attention, but things changed when he uttered those words.

Almost all records of the Arman Empire were erased, so it was impossible for anyone to know about Kirn’s old title.

“You must have direct communication with him, right?” asked Leiu, not at all fazed by the army before him.

“...”

“Use it.”

Firan kept looking at Leiu in silence, deliberating about something before taking out some sort of a tablet and tapping on it.

“Firan?”

Kirn’s voice came from within the tablet, but Leiu spoke before the Captain could relay what was happening.

“Kirn Sparrow. Do you remember my voice?”

There was a very brief silence, followed by a hesitant response from the Consul.

“Leiu?”

“Call off your men. Now.”

This time, Kirn didn’t pause, “Firan, retreat to the city.”

“Yes, Sir!”

No more words were exchanged between the Nameless Knight and the Consul. Firan raised his hand and signaled the Armans, who turned around and swiftly marched away while dragging their war machinery.

…

Inside the now-named Gold City, Kirn Sparrow was pacing around while occasionally looking at the dozens of monitors on the wall.

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He had expected the capture of Wilsden to proceed smoothly, but an unexpected variable appeared so suddenly.

If it were someone like the Masked Queen or any other powerhouse, he would still have ordered Firan to attack.

“Lord Consul, what do we do about the Southern Wall?”

“We’ll keep half of the 2nd Division there for now. We cannot spare any more energy to repair it.”

The scientist didn’t object, he saluted and then left.

By capturing Wilsden, Kirn hoped to form a secure defensive perimeter if his enemies decided to use that opening to attack. After all, except South, Gold City was protected from all sides by sky-high walls.

Even if the Militant Syndicate sent all of its armies to lay siege on Gold City, it would still prove difficult, if not impossible, to breach through the walls without suffering very heavy casualties.

The only reason Kirn was worried about the Southern Wall was because of the Despot Collective. Admittedly, it would take its armies a long time to march all the way to Hollow Creek, nevertheless, Kirn knew they would eventually do it.

If Wilsden was captured, then Kirn would be able to prepare a counter-offensive before the enemy reached Gold City. Now, unfortunately, that plan had to be discarded.

‘Why is he here? And in Wilsden, no less?’

“Bring me Ferendia.”

“At once, Lord Consul!”

One of the soldiers ran out of the laboratory, soon returning along with a uniquely short female Arman. Unlike her other kin, her head had circular edges and, purposely, colored with pink and red dyes.

“I-is there anything you want, Lord Consul?”

Ferendia, once a low-ranking Historian and Archeologist of the Arman Empire, was among the few awakened Armans that didn’t have a military background. Still, she was highly-knowledgeable and greatly talented, which made Kirn value her a lot.

“I’ll give you the necessary resources, so investigate Wilsden and its vicinity for me.”

Albeit confused, Ferendia nodded her horizontally egg-shaped head then clumsily saluted.

“Any discovery, be it ecological, geological, magical… whatever, if you find anything strange, tell me immediately. There’s something there and I want you to find out what it is exactly.”

“I will do my best, L-Lord Consul!”

“Good. I’m counting on you.”

“Lord Consul, it’s ready!”

While Ferendia was awkwardly standing there, waiting for him to dismiss her, an Arman scientist hastily sprinted closer.

“You can go, Ferendia.”

“Yes!”

While looking at the live footage on the monitors, Kirn beckoned the scientist.

“What are the estimations?” He calmly asked,

“The structure is made of stone, sir! We are confident in destroying it and everything around it.”

“Good. Start the countdown.”

…

“The Arman Hound isn’t stupid. He won’t send more people here.”

Leiu, noticing Julie’s panicked state as they returned to the manor, tried to reassure her.

Unfortunately, the young girl was still anxious. Ever since she met him, things around her kept getting more frightening and intense.

She didn’t even know who those ‘people’ were, but if a fight had ensued, everyone would have been massacred. In fact, those machinery she caught a glimpse of seemed to be capable of razing Wilsden to the ground within minutes!

“Stop!”

Feylord, Leiu, and Julie looked forward, where two knights pulled their spears and pointed them at a group of three people.

“Now, hold on a moment! There’s no need to be this aggressive, is there?”

One of them, a man with brown-ish long hair raised his hands in an attempt to calm the knights.

After what just happened, it was reasonable for the Baron’s knights to be wary, and now, some strangers wanted to enter their lord’s estate.

“My best friend, Arthur, told us to go to the Baron, okay?”

One of the knights stepped forward, his spear dangerously close to Chris’ chest.

“Calm your tits, man! I’m unarmed!”

After fleeing for a while, Charles, Isabella, and Chris looked weary and haggard. As per Arthur’s instructions, they rushed from Blackcrest to Wilsden. The journey, albeit uneventful, took them some time and exhausted them both mentally and physically.

“This is your last chance to leav-”

“It’s okay.”

The knight, startled, backed away when he saw Julie approach him.

“Who did you say sent you?”

Julie, with a frown, scrutinized the three strangers.

“Arthur. You know him, right? He said you’re his friend.”

Julie only knew one person with that name, nevertheless, it was a bit foolish to trust them from the get-go.

“...”

A couple of feet away, the Nameless Knight’s piercing dark eyes were fixated on Chris.

“Arthur? That’s the freaking parasite!” Grumbled Feylord while stealing glances at Leiu.

“We’re hungry and tired, Missy! You’ll help us poor souls, yes?”

Christopher grinned at the confused Julie, seemingly caring about her rank as a Baron.

“In fact, Arthur will join us pretty soon!”

“He will?”

Julie was even more surprised, and even a bit happy, but her expression remained the same.

“Yes! We fled from Blackcrest. A lot of shit has gone down there, haven’t you heard?”

“...”

As she had been traveling with Leiu, Julie was still uninformed about the situation in Blackcrest. Moreover, Chris’ overly-friendly way of talking made her feel uncomfortable.

“Chris!”

A soft shout came from beyond the manor’s gate.

“Aerin, my good friend!”

Chris heartily laughed and waved toward the approaching minstrel.

“I knew I felt a familiar presence. What are you doing here?”

In response, Christopher exaggerated a fake cough and made his knees shake uncontrollably,

“As you can see, I’m trying to look for a place to rest! You know that we’re Arthur’s friends, yes? Tell this pretty gal to let us in.” Chris then stopped his ridiculously fake act and rubbed his stomach,

“We’re been eating nothing but berries and other bullshit. We’re hungry.”

The more she listened to the loud Chris, the more suspicious Julie became despite the fact that Aerin recognized him.

She found it hard to believe that Arthur, someone she viewed as a gentleman, would befriend a person like Chris.