Putting an end to the scout and patrol mission?

Achilles' sudden decision left Jack and the others in dismay.

"Mr. White, this about the Insignia?"

Cole raised his fingers in doubt and pointed at the Insignia that was held tight by Achilles in his hands.

Achilles came out with that decision as soon as he saw the Insignia.

Obviously, the Insignia was not as simple as it would seem.

"Yes."

Achilles took the Insignia and shook it in his hands. He gave a meaningful smile and said, "If I were not the Chief Guard before this, we would have carried on our scout and patrol mission. But now, we have to end this mission prematurely."

Achilles' words piqued Jack's curiosity towards the Insignia in his hands.

According to Achilles, only the Twelve Golden Guard, or Zenith and he himself knew what the Insignia meant.

A simple and ordinary wooden Insignia with such a high power of authority.

The meaning behind this may even be more terrifying.

"Let's go, just obey Mr. White."

Jack let out a cold breath, and said teasingly, "I'm already chilled to the bones, so its even better if we can go back earlier and report on our military merits."

Speaking about military merits.

Debut, Cole and Yarol all got excited.

They were willing to give up everything they had in their previous units, and came to join the Dragon Cavalry, just because they wanted to build up some meritorious deeds.

And just after they had joined for a short period of time, they were able to kill a group of scouts from the Oirat tribe in their first mission. Furthermore, they were able to retrieve a significant piece of Insignia that looked and sounded important, this would be considered as a big accomplishment!

"Hahaha... this is a good start for us in the Dragon Cavalry. If the other new recruits knew that we were able to get merits from our first scout and patrol mission, they'd be envious right?"

"Yes, yes, of course. We have achieved something big today. With this merit as a head start, everything will be better in the future!"

"However, we are all safe and sound today all thanks to Mr. White and Jack, so we should thank them as well."

The three of them smiled happily as they spoke.

When the injured Yarol finished the last sentence, Debut gazed deepen and stared at Jack with hot and glowing eyes.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

"Luckily I'm smart. I knew Jack is a hidden gem, and from today onwards I'm going to ride his coattails for as much as possible." Deep down, this was what Debut thought.

Following Achilles' decision.

The five of them immediately turned their horses around and hastily returned to Thegiant.

The snow had not stopped, and the cold wind was still blowing.

When the gang passed by the previous battlefield, they found out that the scattered bodies were gradually covered up by the snow.

"It probably will not take too much time before the traces of the battle be completely buried by the thick snow."

Jack mumbled.

Achilles, who was standing beside him, laughed and said, "This is how the Northern Territory is like. It is snowing all year long. When a battle ends, the traces will be buried complete in snow in less than an hour. In the Dragon Cavalry, it is considered as extremely lucky if you get to go home after you die. Most of them will forever stay undiscovered under the wind and snow."

Jack could sense Achilles' sadness lurking out even though he was smiling when he talked about this.

The battlefield was a cruel place. It was indeed to be a luxury if they were lucky enough to be sent home after sacrificing themselves.

To be able to return back home after death held a significant meaning to everyone.

Moving forward, everyone was rushing back with all their effort.

Debut and the others were still drenched in the joy of getting merits.

Jack had been observing Achilles. He had just came to the Dragon Cavalry, and there were a lot of things that he was still not familiar with. He could learn a lot from Achilles. Maybe Zenith had this in mind when he made the arrangements.

However, on the way, Jack had been observing Achilles' expression.

Achilles face expression was extremely solemn!

The kind of solemnness that he had never seen before!

Compared to Debut and the others, Achilles seemed to be extremely worried.

Jack's mind was floating with thoughts when he saw Achilles' solemn expression.

Although Achilles was only a sergeant for now, he was once an official Chief Guard. He used to be the second highest in command in the Dragon Cavalry."

A person like Achilles who had held a superior position before, and also a fearless warrior in the battlefield.

That being said, it would be understandable if a person like him lose his cool sometimes; but right now, Achilles was obviously very tensed and anxious.

It was shown all over his face.

What was the underlying meaning of that wooden Insignia?

They rushed all the way back to Thegiant. Just after they entered the city gate, Achilles ordered Jack and the others to return their equipment at the supply depot. Then, he told Jack and the rest to wait for him before they go hand in the merits.

After saying that, Achilles put on his armor and rode towards Zenith's house.

He left hastily and vanished at the end of the streets.

"Jack, let's hurry up and go return our equipment. After that is done, we can wait for Mr. White and go report our merits together!"

Debut called out to Jack.

"Okay, let's go."

Jack stopped his gaze, turned his horse around and headed towards the supply depot.

After returning all the equipment.

Jack and the others stood in front of the gate of the supply depot and waited.

After taking off their armor and unloading their equipment, they felt very relieved.

They stood at the entrance, joking and chatting with each other.

When they are out of duty or not taking part in any sort of mission, the life of the Dragon Cavalry was quite carefree. They would not get reprimanded for loitering in Thegiant.

However, Jack was still frowning his eyebrows. He kept thinking about the wooden Insignia.

"Jack, we have gotten ourselves some merits. Why are you still pulling a long face?"

Debut approached Jack, he asked while laughing.

He knew that Jack was not an ordinary person. So in order to foster a closer relationship, he would focus more attention on Jack.

"No, it's nothing."

Jack shook his head and stretched his back.

Cole who was standing beside, smiled and asked, "Jack, are you thinking about the Insignia?"

Jack threw a glance at Cole. He was not surprised that Cole actually knew what he was thinking as he was a professional scout. However, he did not give any response directly, but just smiled noncommittally. After waiting for about half an hour.

Achilles came back hurriedly on his horse.

Upon seeing Jack and the others, he did not stop. He went into the supply depot right away, returned the horse and all his equipment.

When he walked out of the supply depot.

A sign of solemn was shown on his face, just like before when they were on their way back.

In Jack's eyes, it looked as if that Achilles' eyebrows wrinkled even deeper than before. "Let's go, I'll take you all to report in on the merits."

Achilles spoke, and then brought Jack and the others towards military rewarding office. Along the way, Debut and the others were chatting happily with their faces lit up in joy. Obviously, for them, it was a pride to have gotten merits upon joining the Dragon Cavalry! But Jack and Achilles remained unusually calm.

Achilles appeared like this because there was something in his mind.

As for Jack, he was curious about what was going on in Achilles' mind. He did not really care much about the merits.

He was supposed to stay in the Dragon Cavalry for only three months until his father's birthday. And by that time, he would need to leave already.

And besides... As the Chief Guard, it made no difference for him whether he had gotten the merits or not...[