After all, if cultists were so easy to deal with, they would have been wiped out long ago.
Seeing the doubt in Rein’s eyes, Matteo immediately explained:
“At noon today, the child who should have been playing in Captain Weilun’s yard suddenly disappeared. Afterward, we immediately used dogs to track the scent and it led us straight here to the Stewart Farm.”
“Then we discovered that in addition to Captain Weilun’s child, at least four or five other missing children from Flashgold Town were traded into the stronghold.”
“What!” Rein looked stunned!
It turned out to involve Weilun’s own child, no wonder!
There was nothing more to say, it was utterly understandable.
By now, Hamilton had already gotten dressed and, turning his head to look at Rein, he paused for a moment and spoke seriously, “You already understand the situation. If it really is a cultist stronghold, this mission carries a great risk.”
“Just now, I have sent someone to inform Sir Lloyd at the Habsburg Manor, requesting his support.”
“Rein, being a new member of the Night Watchman, you might not be fully aware of the situation with the cultists. However, among the Night Watchman, you are known to be the strongest, so, I want to ask you, are you willing to come along?”
After thinking for a moment, Rein spoke earnestly, “Lord Hamilton, Captain Weilun is my friend, and moreover, rescuing the missing children of Flashgold Town is my duty as a Night Watchman.”
“Also, you’ve said, sir, that the harder the mission, the higher the reward in Merit Points, right?” The last sentence, Rein said with a smile.
“Of course! Good lad!”
“Speaking of which, here’s a set of my spare Knight Armor. It’s not a full set, but it’s still quite heavy. Try it on and see if it fits.”
“Clang!” Hamilton brought out a heavy set of Knight Armor from a compartment behind him.
“Being armored is always a bit safer!” As he spoke, Hamilton handed it over to Rein.
As Rein took it, he realized the Knight Armor weighed over a hundred pounds.
But as Hamilton had said, it seemed not to be a full set of Knight Armor. After Rein put it on, he found it consisted of only five parts: a helmet with a visor, shoulder guards, a breastplate, leg guards, and shin guards.
Lacking gauntlets, boots, and arm guards, it seemed to be designed to reduce the weight for quicker movement.
Though it was Hamilton’s spare set of Knight Armor, it was of excellent quality, and the lining of the armor was made of soft lambskin, which was very stretchable.
So, even though Hamilton was half a head taller than Rein, when Rein put it on, it was only slightly loose, and he had no problems using it.
Instead, Rein clad in Knight Armor and carrying a greatsword wrapped in sheepskin on his back, cut a figure both heroic and vibrant!
“Not bad! Let’s go!” Seeing Rein, Hamilton nodded his head and walked straight out of the office.
At the entrance of the administration hall, all the home-based Night Watchman had already been waiting, and thus, a group of more than ten men mounted the guards’ horses, prepared in advance, and galloped at full speed towards Stewart Farm, north of Flashgold Town.
…
In the center of Stewart Farm, inside a two-story farmhouse.
Seven or eight burly men, either clad in plate armor or chain mail, were currently surrounding a man in a black robe.
Around them, two trembling men knelt on the ground.
“Lord Morte, the two idiots from the Bloodhand Gang weren’t careful enough and got tracked down by the Empire’s ‘black-skin dogs,'” a burly man wearing plate armor and carrying a heavy hammer spoke to the figure in black robes, with a respectful tone.
“Just these two fools!” the man with the hammer pointed at the two people kneeling on the ground and added.
“Oh? What about the people you Wilderness Brotherhood sent to meet them? Were they also this careless? Didn’t use scent-masking powder?” the black-robed person known as Morte’s face darkened, obviously unhappy about such an accident.
Just now, he had heard the barking of dogs not far from the farmhouse.
Clearly, the Empire’s Night Watchman had used dogs to track them to this place.
But this, he had already warned the Wilderness Brotherhood’s people beforehand, whether dealing with the gangs in County Town or the various pirates on the West Coast, they must always be cautious in their dealings, and they must use scent-masking powder and masks to hide their tracks.
Moreover, what made him more troubled was that just two days ago, the Church had issued an order to increase the bounty and accelerate the search for ‘materials.’
Now, just two days later, something had happened on his watch, he feared what the High Priest…
This inexplicably made Morte feel a bit irritable!
“This…” the man with the hammer glanced at his subordinate behind him and explained apprehensively.
“First, because it’s been so long without incidents, everyone has become complacent, and second, because Matthias had some drinks today at noon, so he got a bit careless…”
“Lord Morte, the ‘black-skin dogs’ outside, shall I go clean them up now?” The hammer-wielding man was obviously trying to protect his subordinate and volunteered to black-robed Morte.
“No formal Knights on their side?”
“No, just a small team of ‘black-skin dogs.’ I can take care of them all by myself!” The man with the hammer patted his chest plate forcefully with his iron-gloved right hand.
The subordinate named Matthias looked at his boss with gratitude.
Hearing there were no formal Knights did make Morte’s expression a bit better.
It seems the kids can be taken away.
“Wait, first go bring up the twenty-odd kids from the cellar and load them onto the wagons.”
“Later, I’ll cover you, and you take these kids to the safe spot I told you about last time.” Morte overrode the suggestion from the man with the hammer.
Now was a period when the Church highly valued ‘materials.’ If he were to lose all twenty-odd kids this time, he would surely be held accountable by the higher-ups, something he could not afford. He still wanted to further increase his control over Black Flame.
Giving up a hideout was a minor issue in comparison.
“Lord, why don’t we just kill them and be done with it? Do we really need to abandon this hideout?” the hammer-wielding man didn’t quite understand why they needed to retreat.
Just killing the opposition and preventing any leak of information would be better.
“Don’t be so sure of their lack of strength. Since they’ve managed to follow us, how do you know they haven’t reported in?”
“That… Alright! Lord Morte, I’m on it.”
“Right, what about these two idiots? Shall we just kill them?” the hammer-wielding man pointed at the two men kneeling to the side, their bodies trembling non-stop.
“No, they’re still of use to me. Perhaps, I can make a ‘trade’ with them.”
Morte stroked his chin, a sinister smile playing on his face hidden underneath the black hood.