In the woods outside the fence of Stewen Farm.
At this moment, Weilun could hardly conceal his anxiety.
Just a moment ago, he thought he could not only save his daughter but also demolish a child trafficking den.
However, as soon as they made contact, their group of seven or eight people was repelled by two gatekeepers from the enemy side.
Indeed! Just the gatekeepers.
This awoke Weilun to the realization that the enemies inside were extremely strong; what he had found was likely not just a den but an important stronghold or even their main base.
Therefore, he immediately sent the short-statured Matteo to report to Lord Hamilton and ask for reinforcements.
“Boss, look, two carriages are coming out of the farmhouse’s back door!” a Night Watchman responsible for surveillance reported to Weilun in a low voice.
Weilun immediately looked up and saw two black carriages with large compartments slowly driving out of the farmhouse.
Each carriage was pulled by a pair of horses, and apart from the two people driving them, who seemed to be the same guards they had fought, there were four or five fully-armed mercenaries escorting each carriage.
Moreover, it was clear that they had been spotted by the enemy, who glanced provocatively in their direction, sneering in what seemed like disdain.
“Abby must be on that carriage,” Weilun thought of his daughter being on board, and with a heavy heart, he slammed his hand against a tree trunk, his eyes turning red with urgency.
Suddenly, he lunged forward, intent on charging to rescue her.
But the two elite Night Watchmen at his side immediately grabbed their captain tightly.
“Wait, captain, you’ll be walking into certain death. If those two guards are that strong, the others will undoubtedly be stronger!”
Weilun focused his gaze and saw that those few men either wore plate armor or chainmail, their equipment was even stronger than that of the elite Night Watchmen.
“Yes, let’s wait. Lord Hamilton should be arriving any moment now.”
“Boss, if you make the ultimate sacrifice, what will happen to Abby?”
“Even if Lord Hamilton rescues Abby in the end, think about how heartbroken she will be to know you’re gone,” another elite Night Watchman immediately joined in persuading.
Hearing this, Weilun’s struggling body stilled slightly.
“Yes, if I die, Abby….,” the redness in Weilun’s eyes receded somewhat.
“But I’ll only wait five minutes, no more. If Lord Hamilton hasn’t arrived by then, don’t try to stop me.”
“Alright, captain. If Lord Hamilton isn’t here within five minutes, we’ll join you in the charge,” an impassioned elite Night Watchman said.
This touched Weilun deeply. He patted the young man’s shoulder, wanting to say something but ultimately remained silent.
Time ticked away by the second!
Soon, the seven or eight mercenaries dressed up and ready to go, began to move, intending to drive the carriages away from Stewen Farm.
Weilun felt an intense urgency.
“I’m going up first!” Weilun, with a resolved face, turned to the other Night Watchmen and said.
“The enemy is very strong, I’ll hold them off to slow them down. You follow from a distance and have Lord Hamilton avenge me!”
“Captain!”
Just as Weilun was preparing to move forward, one of the elite Night Watchmen excitedly shouted, “Lord Hamilton’s arrived!”
A troop of Cavalry could be seen approaching rapidly from the south, but at almost the same moment, a figure in a black robe slowly emerged from the second floor of the farmhouse.
The figure moved unhurriedly, exuding a calm composure as if strolling in their own backyard garden.
Sensing something, he slightly lifted his head and looked towards the south.
“They’ve finally arrived, a bona fide Knight, this could be somewhat troublesome. Just don’t know if he’ll accept my ‘kind’ gesture,” the black-robed Mort muttered to himself.
Then, with a wave of his hand, a heavily-armored brute came out from the farmhouse, dragging two weeping, pleading men behind him.
Upon their arrival, Hamilton and Rein immediately made quick contact with Weilun. After briefing them on the situation, everyone turned their attention to the black-robed figure at the farmhouse entrance.
Hamilton, with a grave expression, looked at the black-robed middle-aged man and lingered a few seconds on the man’s cuffs and collar, saying, “A Blackflame monk?”
Rein could feel Hamilton’s left hand, holding the shield, tighten—clearly, this so-called Blackflame monk was a formidable adversary, to the point where even Hamilton was wary.
“Oh! You actually know about us? It seems you’re not just any ordinary Knight, are you?” The black-robed figure finally looked at Hamilton with a hint of seriousness.
“This is the sheriff of Flashgold Town, Lord Hamilton!” Matteo, the short-statured man beside him, seemed slightly indignant at the other’s attitude and exclaimed loudly.
Hamilton did not speak but instead recalled a previous incident in County Town, where he had a brief encounter with a Blackflame monk.
The opponent had the formidable physique of a Knight, along with strange and powerful black flames, resulting in Hamilton suffering a not insignificant setback.
Furthermore, since that fight, his position as captain of the county patrol had been reassigned, and he had been moved laterally to become the sheriff of Flashgold Town.
This indirectly confirmed his suspicion that the opponent had deep connections within the noble circles of County Town, even able to influence the reassignment at his level of duty.
At that moment, Rein also saw the man’s face clearly, the elongated corners of his eyes giving a viper-like sharpness.
“Your Honor, the sheriff, I have a suggestion that might be beneficial for both parties. I wonder if you’d like to hear it,” the Black Flame Sorcerer spoke unhurriedly, as if he was the representative of the imperial authority.
Rein’s first time seeing such an arrogant fellow!
“Go ahead,” said Hamilton, his eyebrows furrowing at the words. However, seeming to consider certain factors, Hamilton forced himself to suppress his anger.
“These two are the child traffickers; I’ll hand them and this hideout over to you so that your trip here won’t be in vain. Moreover, you’ll be able to add a merit to your record,” the Black Flame Sorcerer glanced at the two men kneeling beside him, gesturing.
“Then, we both walk away—a perfect solution, isn’t it?” the Black Flame Sorcerer said with a smile.
“Fat chance! My daughter is still in your hands, you scum!” Weilun couldn’t help but shout.
“Oh? Is that so?” The Black Flame Sorcerer was visibly taken aback, then he laughed.
“I apologize for that; we didn’t mean to kidnap the wrong person. What’s…your daughter’s name? We will release her immediately,” said the Black Flame Sorcerer, seemingly somewhat embarrassed as he gave a slight bow and smiled.
“Abby!” Weilun’s gaze flickered and he stuttered before finally uttering the name.
Hamilton remained silent, his expression as still as water, his gaze fixed on the other man.
“Kev, go fetch a little girl named Abby,” the Black Flame Sorcerer commanded loudly.
Then he turned to Weilun with a smile and said, “Don’t worry, your daughter will be back in your arms soon.”
His demeanor and attitude were natural, not at all like someone who considers child trafficking a violation of imperial law.
Rein knew this was actually a form of towering arrogance, an arrogance that contempted all the empire’s law enforcers present.
The Black Flame Sorcerer clearly believed that by releasing the little girl Abby, he was already making a significant concession.
From beside the carriage, the man with the massive hammer shouted, “At once!”
He flipped the black curtain covering the back of the carriage and called out loudly, “Who’s Abby? If it’s you, nod your head!”
Although the carriage was not very close to Rein and the others, it was only a few dozen meters away, so nearly all the Night Watchmen could clearly see inside the carriage.
A sea of children was visible inside, packed tight, their hands and feet bound, their mouths stuffed with cloth, like animals waiting to be slaughtered.
“Looks like she’s not in this carriage after all,” muttered the man named Kev, about to let the black curtain fall back into place.
Suddenly, a little girl made a few muffled noises and quickly began nodding her head, her eyes filled with joy and fear. If one followed her gaze, they would see that she was looking right at Weilun.
Initially, the little girl Abby didn’t understand the situation and was afraid to admit it. But upon seeing her familiar father’s figure through the gap in the curtain, she began nodding vigorously.
All at once, the eyes of the other children, filled with longing and hope, widened as they watched Hamilton, Rein, and Weilun, along with the other Night Watchmen in uniform.
They too were hoping to be rescued like that fortunate girl.
This caused the faces of the elite Night Watchmen to change, their eyes slightly reddening, as if they all felt a wave of shame washing over them.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier!” bristled the man with the hammer, picking up the little girl Abby as one might pick up a lightweight chick, and brought her straight to the Black Flame Sorcerer.
The Black Flame Sorcerer glanced at the emotional Weilun and said, “It seems she’s the right girl. Kev, loosen the ropes and let her go to her family.”
With a heh-heh laugh, Kev removed the cloth from little girl Abby’s mouth and untied the ropes on her body.
The restoration of his daughter Abby brought Weilun to tears of joy.
“Your Honor, the sheriff, look, now we can leave, can’t we?” Mort said with a smirk, starting to speak while waving for the hammer man and another strong man watching the two gang members to leave.
It was phrased as a question, but his tone and actions were more of a notification than actually seeking Hamilton’s opinion.
The ‘reasonableness’ of the other party made Hamilton hesitate for a moment.
Firstly, the enemy was strong; if a battle were to break out, the casualties would be severe, and the fate of the more than twenty children was uncertain.
But letting them go like this was hard to swallow!
“To watch as an ennobled lord and sheriff of the empire, more than twenty children are being taken away before my very eyes; I, Hamilton, feel I could never live with myself,” he thought.
Perhaps it was because he too came from a common background, not a noble one.
“If I hold this guy off, can you take down the others and save the children?” Hamilton turned to the Night Watchmen, whispering, but his piercing eyes lingered the longest on Rein.
Rein nodded, about to speak, when one of the Night Watchmen began to recite:
“The night is dark and full of terrors, but I am the sword in the darkness, the shield that guards the realms of the empire….”
Following him, the other elite Night Watchmen also joined in softly, “….I am the light that brings the dawn, the peace that burns away the night….”
Their voices grew louder!
“When danger looms, I am the horn that wakes the sleepers….I shall live and die at my post….”
By now, the voices of the twenty or so Night Watchmen present had fused into a mighty torrent. Though not deafening, the resolved sound made one take notice.