After some time, Jordan stood at the gates and watched Kelvin leave with bags of gold coins filling the carts, which were once filled with goods.
Kelvin was heading straight for Hebron Town to purchase the needs of the stronghold, which were sugar, salt, and so on.
Sugar and salt were expensive and could only be purchased in Hebron Town and the county.
A man garbed in a black coat walked out of the gate and stood beside Jordan with crossed arms.
“That’s the merchant. He doesn’t look like one that is from the high plains.”
“He says he’s a native but now works for a merchant guild, but I know that’s a lie.”
Jordan replied solemnly. His smiles and jovial expression had vanished, and what remained was a man Kelvin had never seen.
“If you had such resources under your grasp, you could gain the alliance of other families and take down the Flamehearts before the imperial family sends your reply, which will be no doubt a positive one.”
“Your troops, are they ready to track down these men?”
“Keke, they were trained for this.”
“Inform Count Tigris that I am grateful for his support with the gold coins I gave them. I’ve gotten what I want. Once I plant these 10 bags of Golden Fragrant maize, all of the wasteland and even the high plains will troop into my territory to buy.”
Jordan’s eyes gleamed. He could see piles and piles of gold coins.
“The hexakad eggs will do better. Do you know what eggs that can increase lifespan will do to the minds of the rich and wealthy? Even the poor will clamor for it.” The man said.
Jordan glanced at him but said nothing. Those hexakad eggs were the most precious, and to him, only for his personal consumption.
He had heard that one hexakad egg can make a common man many times stronger.
“Count William owns 50% of those eggs. Don’t let greed consume you.” The man cautioned as if he noticed Jordan’s intentions.
“50 is enough for me. Just do your work as you’ve been doing. Be back before nightfall. This is winter, and we don’t know when those beasts will devour the territory of that cripple and spread into ours.”
……
Neigh!
A horse neighed as the convoy journeyed through the land, which was just white snow, for as long as they could see. This was the difficult part of the journey, but once they passed this area, they would be at peace.
But it would take two days to cross this vast plain.
“Why is it so cold?!” Alec grumbled and took off his helmet.
“Duke Zenas once slayed a fire elemental abyss creature in this area hundreds of years ago, and it’s usually very hot. Without the snow, you would have not been able to move with your armor on.”
Trot! Trot!
Alec stared at the figures on the horizon.
“What’s that?” A man garbed in commoners’ clothing stood up from the cart and asked with furrowed brows.
When the figures got closer, they discovered it was a group of ten men on large brown horses clad in light leather armor. The horse riders wore masks that only had holes for their eyes.
Rumble!
The ground trembled.
Alec walked to the back of the convoy with his spear. He pulled his shield from the bottom of the last cart and slammed it against the snow-covered ground.
Despite his wordless threat, the riders still charged on with increasing speed. When the gap reduced to a hundred meters, they lifted their javelins and launched them at Alec.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
The javelins made a beautiful curve, descending on Alec.
Alec snorted.
He went on one knee and protected his body by placing his shield above him. At that moment, a horse rider seized the opportunity to close the gap and made his horse step on Alec’s shield with the aim of breaking Alec’s bones.
After all, the power, weight, and speed would be too much for Alec.
Those thoughts proved to be just mere thoughts, as with a great roar, Alec sprung to his feet, flinging both the horse and the man away!
Snow rose into the air, following after the falling rider and his horse.
His shocked expression was captured in Alec’s eyes.
Boom!
Both the man and his horse crashed. The man couldn’t survive his horse landing on top of him, and the horse, which landed with its head first, broke its neck and also died.
Alec thrust his spear, and it bent toward the right, convincing the second rider that Alec had missed, but the spearhead suddenly tilted inward, striking the rider’s neck before he could think!
“He’s a knight!”
Cedric, the man who spoke to Jordan, bellowed with an alarmed tone.
Trot! Trot!
Before they knew it, a silver light flashed on Kelvin’s skin as he rode into the battlefield and cut a rider!
Alec held the tail of a horse and pierced the rider through his back!
Boom!
Suddenly, a forceful wind slammed Alec, and he found himself crashing some meters away. Grunting, he got to his feet.
He saw Cedric staring at him from a distance of 10 meters.
All of a sudden the man’s chest inflated, his eyes flashed with a blue light, and then a burst of azure wind came out of his mouth. It was like a horizontal mini hurricane!
Bam!
Alec found himself several meters away once again.
He grunted deeply and slammed the snow, causing the place he hit to sink.
Cedric blew another burst at the ground. It launched him into the air, straight toward Alec. Still midair, Cedric blew another windburst at Alec.
Boom!
The snow flew into the air.
Out of the snow came a soft silver gleam.
Shing!
When Cedric realized what it was, it was already too late, as the spear was right before his eyes.
Thud!
Cedric’s body dropped from the sky.
After pulling out his spear, Alex discovered the remaining riders were gone.
“Your Jordan must have hired these bandits. Their silver-ranked leader has a very irritating talent that made him a tough kill.”
Alec’s deep voice rang.
“I expected him to do something.” Kelvin replied.
“It was the last time I would be going there, so I had to make sure I got enough coins.”
Amongst the commoners, a man garbed in a white apothecary garment breathed out. He was afraid before, but now he was excited. Imagine working for a master who had a gold-ranked knight?!
Kelvin went to a cart, brought out a cage that had a falcon inside, and turned to Alec.
“I’ll send a letter to Lord Asher.”
…..
Silverleaf Bastide.
Smoke could be seen rising from the top of a mountain. Bonestrike Rangers and the Silverleaf guards were rushing up the walls while some Bladebreakers mounted their steeds.
Alex’s tent was opened, and Alex instantly fell on one knee.
“Your Lordship. The first wave is here.”
