"Marquis Charles?"

"Marquis Charles is the eldest son of Duke St. Hilde and the first in line of succession..."

"Nonsense! Of course I know who Marquis Charles is, but why do his knights appear here? And why do they need to recruit us urgently?"

"Isn't Marquis Charles fighting with trolls at the border? Are we going to the border?"

"How is that possible? This place is so far away from the border. Even if there is an emergency recruitment, we will not come here to recruit troops. And you see, the recruitment order clearly states that we must gather at Mirror Lake within two days."

"Where is Mirror Lake?"

"It's not that far from here. Just follow this river for more than fifty kilometers to the north and you'll probably be there."

"Then shall we go?"

"I don't want to go to the battlefield!"

"But...but this is an emergency recruitment order from the Saint Hilde family!"

"But it was not signed by the Duke himself."

"Isn't Marquis Charles the Duke of the North in the future?"

"That will have to wait until he actually inherits the title in the future...and I don't want to die!"

"You may not necessarily die. Maybe this is a good opportunity to make contributions."

"Oh, idiot!"

"Who are you scolding?"

"How can I scold you!"

…

When Salu brought Marquis Charles' emergency recruitment order back to the camp, everyone immediately exploded.

Some people agreed, some objected, and there was a quarrel.

The reason for this situation is that the emergency recruitment order came from Marquis Charles, not from his father, Duke St. Hilde, Lord of the North.

The title of Marquis of Charles St. Hilde is a virtual title and does not have an actual fief. It is just a confirmation of his first-in-line inheritance, which is somewhat similar to the position of a prince in ancient China.

But although the prince's status is noble, he is not the emperor after all.

Therefore, if Duke St. Hilde issued an emergency call-up order, no northerner who received the order would dare to resist.

However, if it is an emergency recruitment order issued by Marquis Charles...

Just look at the quarrelsome Firefox Mercenary Group to see its effectiveness.

"That's enough! Shut up!" Saru shouted irritably, stopping the quarrel among his men.

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Then he turned to look at Oliver and asked, "Does Marquis Charles have the power to issue an emergency call-up order?"

"I remember that Marquis Charles should not have such power..." Oliver was a little unsure and turned to Colin for help, "Knight Karn, am I right?"

"According to legal principles, Marquis Charles does not have this power." Colin searched the memory in his mind, "However, there are similar precedents in the history of the North."

Oliver's face, which had just improved, suddenly turned gloomy again.

He absolutely did not want the Fire Fox Mercenary Group to be urgently recruited at this time.

Without the escort of the mercenary group, his caravan would have become a lamb to be slaughtered, and it would be impossible for him to reach Fallen Eagle City safely.

"So, Captain Saru..." Oliver's tone was a little difficult, "Are you ready to accept this recruitment order?"

Saru's brows knitted together, obviously he was also dissatisfied with this emergency recruitment order. After thinking about it for a long time, he slowly shook his head and said, "No."

As soon as he said these words, Oliver immediately looked happy, but the several mercenary leaders behind Saru immediately exploded.

"My lord, you cannot refuse Marquis Charles's recruitment order like this!"

"Yes! The Saint Hilde family will not let us go!"

"And that team of cavalry... I think they really dare to kill people!"

Saru turned around suddenly and glanced viciously at the noisy mercenaries behind him.

The scene suddenly became quiet again.

"Do you know what we will face if we accept this recruitment order and go to Mirror Lake?"

After hearing Captain Salu's question, several mercenary leaders looked at each other and then replied: "They should be preparing for war. Although it is dangerous, it is better than disobeying the orders of the Saint Hilde family."

"War?" Saru sneered, "We are going to die!"

"What?"

"Master Captain, why?"

"Fighting doesn't necessarily mean you'll die, right? Besides, if we win, maybe we can also get some military glory..."

"You are all dreaming!" Saru ruthlessly interrupted his men's delusions, "Think about it again! Why did Marquis Charles's army appear in Mirror Lake?"

The mercenaries looked at each other.

Colin's eyes flickered, as if he understood what Saru meant.

And Oliver shouted directly: "Yes! I also suspect that Marquis Charles may have retreated all the way to Mirror Lake!"

"What?"

"How can this be?"

"How could Lord Marquis lose?"

…

The mercenaries expressed disbelief.

No wonder they have such blind trust in Marquis Charles.

Because in recent decades, the trolls have been completely suppressed and defeated by the northern army.

Five years ago, even the Troll King's Court was forced to move north under the threat of the Northern Army. The large area in the southern part of the Sky Icefield has almost become a hunting ground for the Northern Army.

If the climate and environment on the ice sheet were not too harsh for growing crops and building manors and castles, I am afraid that the northern territory would have extended further north.

Under such circumstances, no proud northerner would have thought that the Saint Hilde family would be defeated.

But if you think about it carefully, Saru and Oliver's guesses make sense.

In recent months, no good news has come back from the frontline battlefields. Instead, several towns on the border have been attacked one after another, and several families have lost their fiefdoms.

At first, everyone thought it was just a troll jumping over the wall and sending a small force to bypass the front line and enter the northern border to harass.

Although the private armies of several families were temporarily repulsed, as long as the main northern army led by Marquis Charles returns to support, they will be able to clear out these invading troll armies and regain the lost territory.

But now it seems that this may not be the case.

Because, Marquis Charles's army has actually appeared in Mirror Lake...

It is no longer the border, but the hinterland.

In the memory of this generation of northerners, trolls have never been able to penetrate this place deeply.

Most of the mercenaries fell silent, obviously they were scared.

But some people disagreed and encouraged: "Even so, we can go to Mirror Lake and help Marquis Charles defeat the invading trolls..."

"Idiot!" Saru scolded sternly, "When the army is retreating, you still want to turn the tide? Just rely on us mercenaries who were recruited urgently?"

"Not only us, the nearby mercenary groups must have received emergency recruitment orders..."

"They're just a bunch of cannon fodder!" Saru knew exactly who his subordinates were.

These guys were able to accidentally kill their own people when fighting the thieves. To say that they were just a mob would be a bit of a compliment.

Are you still thinking about going to the battlefield to fight the regular army?

Really looking for death!

Saru finally made up his mind and ignored the objections of his men. He turned around resolutely and walked towards the cavalry of the Saint Hilde family.

Looking at Saru's leaving figure, everyone looked at each other with different expressions.

Colin also suddenly realized that his father, Baron Angelet, had not written back for several months.

This is obviously a bit unusual.

It seems that someone is deliberately blocking news from the front line...

Could it be that the situation on the front line is really not good?

…

"You dare to refuse the call-up order from the Marquis?" I don't know what Salu said there, but the leading knight of the Saint Hilde family suddenly shouted angrily.

"Lord Knight, I just want to know..."

"That's enough! Refusing the emergency call-up order is treason!" The knight arrogantly interrupted Saru's excuse and said to the Fire Fox mercenary group gathered in front of him, "Whoever kills this traitor will be promoted immediately. Centurion!”

"Wow——"

The mercenaries suddenly burst into an uproar.

Some people were filled with indignation, some people sneered with disdain, but there were also people with twinkling eyes.

"Sir Knight!" Saru didn't look back. He confidently handed his back to the people behind him and continued: "I respect the St. Hilde family and respect Marquis Charles, but we also have the right to know who we are. What’s going on in the place we’re about to go to…”

Saru stopped speaking only halfway.

Because a long sword pierced his chest.

"Ho-ho-" Saru vomited blood and tried to turn his head.

After seeing the face of the young man behind him clearly, the expression on his face suddenly became extremely complicated.

"Bang!"

The body fell to the ground.

"Very good!" The knight on horseback nodded with satisfaction, looked at the young man holding a bloody sword and said, "Tell me your name."

"Dear knight, my name is Thrall."

"Saru? What is your relationship with this Saru?"

"He is my father, the honorable knight."