On the road ahead, no one mentioned the matter of the arranged marriage again. Zakarili pointed at the prancing ugly freak and asked, "Who's that person? Why is he so ugly?"

"Him? His name is Gowink. We captured him as a prisoner on the border a few days ago. I didn't kill him and now he's my slave," Kaland replied.

"Such an ugly slave?" Zakarili widened his eyes and asked, "Why do you keep such an ugly slave?"

"He's very interesting," Kaland explained. "He was originally a slave for the soldiers in the castle. He can speak the language of our nomadic tribes in the wastelands as well as the northern language spoken in the castles. Also, he has seen many sights in the castles and tells me about them."

"Pah!" Zakarili scoffed disdainfully. "What's so great about being able to speak some northern language? We Keildanes can too!"

"You can too?" Kaland was immediately interested.

"Of course." Zakarili thumped his chest. "You know us Keildanes, our land is rather barren, can't even graze animals, so we survive by hunting and trading hides and furs. We take various products from the wastelands to trade with the Tasserians, and get all kinds of stuff from the northern castles in return. I know everything the northerners eat, use, and how they speak."

"How interesting!" Kaland exclaimed admiringly. Although the northern castles were the main base of the enemy, Kaland was very curious about them and happy to listen to any news related to the castles. As for Zakarili, his knowledge did not come from first-hand experience, but from hearsay from Tasserian traders.

Zakarili shared everything he knew about the northerners - what they wore, where they lived, how they cooked and drank, fascinating Kaland who listened enthralled with yearning on his face.

Gowink sidled over curiously to listen in, then tutted and said, "What nonsense is all this? As the saying goes, hearing a hundred times isn't as good as seeing once! You two sharing such hearsay will only spread misinformation."

Seeing the ugly freak's insolent attitude, Zakarili raised his horse whip to hit him. But Kaland stopped him, and said, "Let this guy share what he has witnessed in the army camps, and you can discern whether he speaks true or deceives me."

"Alright. If you dare lie I'll slaughter you on the spot!" Zakarili pointed at Gowink threateningly.

Kaland nodded gently. "Go on, what else is there?"

"The northern army," Gowink continued, "has thousands of men, but they're not all the same. They're divided into many kinds. The lowest kind, just like me, hehehe, are slaves, prisoners, menials who do all the hard and dirty work, without any benefits. "

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Zakarili sneered, "Who cares what you do! Talk about the others."

"The next level up are those recruited from peasants and townspeople. Their status isn't much higher than mine. They wear all kinds of padded and leather armor, and wield tools like hammers, pitchforks, and wooden staffs as weapons. The two fools you killed were this kind, not too formidable."

"Go on, what else?" Kaland listened attentively and amiably.

"There's also a motley crew a level up. Though called motley, they're proper soldiers. All kinds of rogues and rascals are amongst them, not a single good lamp. I daren't offend them." Gowink pulled a face, then continued, "Above them are the real gentlemen."

"They're raised in noble families, children of retainers, and relatives of aristocrats. They don't work on ordinary days, just think of ways to fight when full. They're the real deal, little master, you can't beat them."

Kaland laughed and nodded, clearly this ugly freak was deliberately provoking him. Fortunately he was in a good mood today and couldn't be bothered.

"Alright, I can't beat them. Go on."

Gowink continued, "The soldiers have ranks too. Those who serve are called squires. Their masters who they serve are knights."

"Knights are already one-in-a-hundred elites, but they're petty too, differentiating hierarchy by birth not martial skill. There are senior and junior knights."

After listening to so much in one go, Kaland was rather lost. He looked to Zakarili, and the elder prince reluctantly nodded, conceding the ugly freak's words were true.

"That's right, knights. They're like the warriors of our tribes, the mightiest fighters of the northmen."

"Much mightier than you bumpkins." Gowink deliberately provoked them again.

"Bastard, you dare sing the praises of the enemy in front of your own masters. I'll beat you to death!" Zakarili chased Gowink and beat him. This shameless ugly freak was fearless, even running circles around Kaland while being beaten.

Kaland laughed loudly watching the ugly slave's antics. However, the term "knights" suddenly brought some images to mind.

"Gowink, the knights you mentioned, are they the ones wearing full body armor and riding tall horses on the battlefield?" Kaland unexpectedly asked.

"Oh? Has the little master seen them too?"

Kaland casually described, "The armor is extremely heavy, all forged from iron. The helmet covers the entire head, leaving just a slit to see. The hands are covered in leather gloves, with iron vambraces at the wrists, fastened by straps. Gripping a long spear in hand..."

Kaland's description was very specific. The other two listened attentively too. When he finished, he asked Gowink, "Is that right?"

"Yes, that's right."

Zakarili found it odd, since Kaland hadn't seen much before. So he asked, "Where did you see that?"

"In a dream."

"Hahahahaha!"

The two guffawed loudly.

"Really!" Kaland explained helplessly, "I've been having this dream, of myself wearing that kind of heavy armor. But my vision was limited, I could only see how my hands were armored, not knowing what the rest looked like."

"Hahahaha!"

"Then next time you dream, take off the armor and see for yourself!" Gowink grinned hideously.

Seeing their laughter, Kaland felt rather silly too, why would he have such a bizarre dream! He gave a wry smile and replied, "How can I control dreams? I just dream whatever comes."

Kaland thought to himself, fortunately he didn't mention being watched by strange eyes at night. Who knows what more mockery that would bring! He sighed, realizing the anxiety and restlessness during his loneliness really couldn't be conveyed.

As they travelled, the group shared various sights and stories, having great fun. With new companions, Kaland also happily cast off his past gloom, heading towards the Keildane tribe.