What to do? Reidi looked at
Lorist shook his head with a bitter smile. He was currently powerless, and relying on Reidi alone to face two Sword Saints was far from reliable. If either member of that middle-aged couple could hold Reidi off for just two exchanges, the other could deal a casual strike and Lorist would be finished. The only thing he could pray for was that Arithly wouldn't blurt out his identity on the spot. Regardless of her ample bosom, she should have some brains by now — after all, she was already a mother.
Lorist quickly tugged at Reidi's sleeve, got off the carriage, and the two of them stood furtively by the vehicle with their heads lowered and hands at their sides, acting like servants who had been caught making mistakes by their masters. He could only hope that seeing them behave this way would sharpen Arithly's wits rather than having her rush over to throw her arms around his neck in tearful joy...
In truth, Lorist was already regretting his decision. He must have been out of his mind to come to Baron Dina's domain. It was obvious that two of his four concubines — Diliana and Fenagali — were members of the Dina family. Those Sword Saints searching for him would naturally investigate here, and he had essentially walked right into their trap.
The middle-aged couple glanced casually at Lorist — just a pair of lowly farmers. However, Reidi caught their attention. The sudden appearance of a young farmer at the first rank of Silver was unusual. Normally, when someone in a territory awakened battle energy, the lord would find ways to recruit them into his retinue or family forces rather than letting them remain a farmer.
The couple then turned to Arithly. Fortunately, she had just lowered the hand she'd been using to cover her mouth and stifle a scream. She then put on a furious expression and stormed over, pointing at Reidi and scolding: "Clemento! I sent you and Cano to deliver some supplies, and you dare to wander around and dawdle until now before coming back! Don't bother making excuses about broken axles or overturned carriages — that's the third time this month you've damaged a carriage, and it was only just repaired yesterday! If you keep this up, I will never make you a knight of House Dina, and I will certainly never let you marry Sunilulu!"
Uh... Reidi looked utterly bewildered. What was all this about? Had Arithly mistaken him for someone else? His name wasn't Clemento, and since when was he going to become a knight of House Dina? And what did she mean by giving Sunilulu to him in marriage? Sure, she was her maidservant and quite pretty, but the last time he'd come with His Highness, it was Arithly herself who had offered to arrange the marriage — and he'd turned her down...
Lorist let out a long breath of relief, mentally giving Arithly ten thousand thumbs up. He hadn't expected that becoming a knight and a mother had sharpened this girl's mind. She was putting on quite a good show. He hurriedly tugged at Reidi beside him, signaling him not to argue with Arithly. He hunched his body further, pretending to be terrified of her scolding. Reidi, meanwhile, opened his mouth, said nothing, and simply lowered his head, giving off a rebellious air.
"You're still not convinced, are you?" Arithly's finger was practically poking Reidi's forehead. "You can't even handle a simple task, and you want to follow Uncle Masa to the front lines? You think that if you distinguish yourself in battle, I'll accept you as a family knight and give you Sunilulu? Dream on! If you keep loafing around without making any progress, I'll have you expelled from Baron Dina's domain!"
"And you, Cano!" Arithly turned her spear on Lorist beside her. "I told you to supervise this lazy bum's work, and instead you tag along with him playing all day. Neither of you gets dinner tonight. Now get inside and clean up the tables. Tomorrow you're going into the mountains to gather herbs for me. These two esteemed apothecaries want to purchase some medicinal ingredients from us. If you dig up anything valuable, you'll get bonus coin to spend drinking."
Apothecaries? Lorist understood immediately. These two Sword Saints were posing as apothecaries to buy herbs. Arithly was only a second-rank Silver female knight — she couldn't detect that the couple were Sword Saints. But upon seeing Lorist in his current disguise, she had quickly grasped the situation and realized that both he and Reidi didn't want their identities exposed.
Although Baron Dina's domain was near the mountains, it only produced herbs of little value. The truly renowned herb-purchasing regions were in eastern Northland — the herbs from the Dark Dragon Mountains were famous across the continent, and those from the mountainous provinces of Draymond and Malevia were frequently smuggled to eastern Northland and passed off as Dark Dragon Mountain produce. Who would go out of their way to Baron Dina's domain to purchase ordinary herbs? They were clearly here for something else.
"My sincerest apologies for the spectacle — it's all these two lazy good-for-nothings' fault." After finishing her scolding, Arithly's expression transformed into a beaming smile as she turned to the couple. It seemed women's fickle nature was truly innate.
"Not at all. As acting lord, your duties are naturally complex — it's we who have intruded," the man said with a smile, his gaze still following Reidi's retreating back into the hall. "This young man is quite promising — already at the first rank of Silver. With proper training, he could one day become a
"Him?" Arithly sniffed disdainfully. "Esteemed apothecary, please don't joke. I'd count myself lucky if he didn't drive me to an early grave. His father was one of my father's old subordinates — they died together on the battlefield. With that bond, I originally wanted to give him proper training, but the brat ran off with a passing mercenary, saying he wanted to learn skills to avenge his father. He was gone for seven or eight years."
"He's now at the first rank of Silver, and he says he wants to become our family knight, and that he'll marry the childhood neighbor girl who used to follow him around — my maid, Sunilulu. I tested his swordsmanship and found that the mercenary taught him all the wrong things — he picked up every bad habit and none of the good ones."
"So I told him to first rid himself of those mercenary bad manners and properly learn orthodox knightly techniques, but he refuses to work or train properly. Instead he wanders around all day being idle, and he even tried to sneak off to the front lines to follow our family knight, Uncle Masa, into battle to earn glory and achieve his goals..."
At that moment, Arithly transformed into one of those gossipy busybodies, chatting away to the couple without pause. The two middle-aged "apothecaries" could only listen with twitching faces — they had no interest whatsoever in the life story of a low-rank Silver mercenary. They'd merely asked out of polite conversation, and they certainly hadn't expected Arithly to launch into such an extended monologue. When she finally finished, the couple hastily thanked her for her hospitality and prepared to leave.
But just before departing, the couple made one last attempt: "Esteemed Knight Dina, are you truly not interested in purchasing some affordable, high-quality healing potions from us? This is a rare opportunity — we happened to brew a few extra bottles last time. In gratitude for your warm hospitality, we're willing to sell at a discount, just recovering our costs. We can guarantee the efficacy of these advanced healing potions: as long as the patient still draws breath, we can save them, and the potions also accelerate the rate of recovery..."
Arithly blinked her long lashes with wide, innocent eyes: "B-but those advanced healing potions are too expensive — ten gold Forde coins per bottle. And your shelf life is too short — less than half a year. If I bought them, they'd be useless. After six months, it would be like throwing gold coins into the water. Besides, our family has no need for advanced healing potions. When our commoners suffer minor injuries, they just spend a large silver coin on a regular healing potion..."
The wife among the couple smiled: "Alright, Jack, stop trying to push those advanced healing potions. Knight Dina has already said they have no use for them — it would be a waste to buy them. We should go. Thank you once again for your hospitality. We'll come back in a few days to check on the herbs you've gathered."
Arithly performed a bow: "Esteemed apothecaries, are you truly not considering staying the night? Though our accommodations are modest, we will do our best to make you feel at home..."
"No need, thank you for your generous offer. We've already reserved rooms at the tavern in the town up ahead. If you ever need our services, you can find us at the Horseshoe Tavern in Dapanhe Town in Viscount Hibok's domain, or simply leave a message at the bar. We'll come as quickly as possible," said the middle-aged man called Jack, with impeccable courtesy.
"Very well, thank you for your kind offer. If I need anything, I won't hesitate to ask. Once again, welcome to Baron Dina's domain." This time Arithly gave a knight's salute.
The apothecary couple had arrived on horseback, and they departed the same way. Only after their silhouettes had vanished down the distant road did Arithly turn and head back into the wooden hall.
Inside the hall, Lorist and Reidi were eating ravenously, the guest table a mess of empty plates and cups. Standing nearby was one of Arithly's maids — the pretty Sunilulu — pouting angrily, because Reidi had been gnawing on a roasted lamb leg while simultaneously teasing her, saying she was so ugly no one would ever marry her.
"If no one else wants you, I'll take you as my wife," Arithly said flatly as she entered the hall. "Lorist, what's going on with you two? Why are you dressed like this?"
Lorist tossed the black rye bread in his hand back onto his plate and gave Arithly a thumbs-up. "Your reflexes were quick today, and your performance was excellent. I almost died at the hands of that couple."
"Huh? That couple?" Arithly was taken aback. "They were just apothecaries who came to buy herbs. How could they possibly kill you? Besides, wasn't I there?"
Lorist rolled his eyes. "You foolish woman — that couple are both Sword Saints. They came here specifically to check whether I was hiding in your domain recovering from my wounds. I suspect they were both sent by the Commercial Alliance to assassinate me. Why else would anyone come to your domain to buy those common herbs?"
"No wonder they kept asking if I needed those advanced healing potions and offering such a steep discount. If I'd known, I would have bought them," Arithly said blankly.
"The moment you bought them, they'd know I was hiding here. I'm actually relieved you didn't do anything foolish like purchasing those advanced healing potions. A single bottle of advanced healing potion costs at least thirty gold Forde coins. For a tiny territory like yours, no one would spend that kind of money unless the lord himself was seriously wounded. Their pushing those potions on you was a way to confirm whether I was here," Lorist explained.
Arithly's eyes immediately welled up with tears. "Lorist, are your wounds still not healed?"
Lorist smiled bitterly. "They're not that easy to heal. The external wounds have mostly closed, but the inside of my body is still a mess. I'm practically an invalid — I can't even hold a sword. I'd planned to hide here for a year or so to properly recover, but it seems your domain isn't safe either. I should leave so I don't bring trouble to you and your son. Oh — where's Triek?"
He bore the Dina surname. He wasn't part of the
"Triek ran wild outside all day today and kept nodding off at dinner. I had Sunilulu give him a bath and put him to bed early," Arithly answered.
"I was hoping to meet the little fatty, but he's already asleep," Lorist muttered. "Arithly, did your family's garrison also go to the front lines? I told you not to."
"We weren't supposed to join in originally. His Majesty was badly defeated, wasn't he? But then your Norton family's three great legions swept through Armenia and Malevia provinces, and His Majesty also crushed the Commercial Alliance's forces and reclaimed both provinces — now you've even advanced into the Mana Hill Plains. So I sent Uncle Masa with the garrison to try their luck. Since we're following behind the Norton family's forces, there shouldn't be any trouble. The Mana Hill Plains are so prosperous — it would be a real loss not to grab a share."
Lorist was defeated by this money-grubbing woman's reasoning. He considered that the Dina family's garrison — only about a thousand men — would merely be performing simple tasks behind the Norton family's forces: guarding prisoners, defending camps, escorting logistics trains. They wouldn't be expected to charge into battle or storm fortifications. Basic safety was reasonably assured, and they'd come back with a share of the spoils. No wonder Arithly was so eager to send troops to the battlefield.
"Your Highness, are we leaving tonight?" Reidi had already finished the roasted lamb leg, tossed the bone aside, and snatched a linen towel from Sunilulu's hands to wipe his mouth and hands. Sunilulu glared at him furiously.
Lorist was about to speak when Arithly cut in: "You can't leave. It's even more dangerous out there."
Lorist shook his head. "No. Those Sword Saints have already noticed your domain. The two who came today didn't recognize us, but if someone who has seen us shows up, it's over."
Arithly laughed. "Lorist, with that full beard and this disguise, I'm the only one who could recognize you. Anyone else wouldn't suspect you of being a farmer even if you stood right in front of them. As for Reidi, he's already shaved off that mustache — if Sunilulu hadn't been pining for him all this time, no one would have recognized him at a glance either. Here's what we'll do: there's a hunter's cabin halfway up the western mountain pass. Both mountain keepers went with Uncle Masa to the front lines. They've always kept to themselves and rarely interact with the townsfolk in our territory. You can stay there, and no one will suspect a thing."
"Also, those two mountain keepers are named Clemento and Cano — the exact names I just called you in front of those fake apothecaries. That way, when those imposters come back in a few days, they won't find anything amiss, and you two can stay there quietly while you recover. Oh, and Lorist — do you really not need any of those advanced healing potions?"
Lorist shook his head. "I don't need them. You should know I'm an apothecary myself — second rank, at that. As long as I have herbs, I can brew whatever potions I need. I don't need to buy any. Reidi and I will head to that hunter's cabin you mentioned first thing tomorrow morning. If it suits us, we'll stay. But I need only you and Reidi to know that we've been here. Don't mention it in correspondence with your sister, and don't contact Northland either. Understood?"
...