[Chapter 29: Attacked on the Road]

After a good night’s rest at the Northern Outpost, the team, whose fatigue was greatly relieved, set out again on the road to Winter Village.

This trip to Winter Village was very different from David’s previous trip from Winter Village to Iron Tree Castle. This team did not choose to go west along the northern edge of the Iron Tree Forest, and then turn north when they saw the river.

Instead, they chose a faster route, leaving the Northern Outpost and heading straight northwest.

According to David’s description, Winter Village is located on the south side of a large forest northwest of the Northern Outpost and on the east bank of the Winter River. Both the vast forest and the Winter River are easy to determine reference points, and even when they are far away, they can use the forest to determine the direction.

So even if it is difficult to tell the direction on the green grassland at a glance, there is no need to worry about not finding Winter Village.

Because they chose the shortest route and had a mount, the journey that would have taken ten days could be completed in two days if they hurried, and three days if they were slower.

David had no opinion on Marroni’s choice. It was a good thing to be able to go back early. He didn’t feel anything when he was in Iron Tree Castle before. Now that he was closer to Winter Village, he missed the new home he had left for less than a month.

Of course, he did not ignore the two inspectors’ subordinates in the team whose identities were unknown. The two had been recording something on the way. When the team occasionally stopped to eat and rest, they would get together to discuss something.

Maybe it was because they checked too frequently, and Marroni soon noticed it.

“Don’t be surprised, they are just drawing a map.”

David was suddenly enlightened after hearing it. It turned out that they were making a map. Since Winter Village was going to become the territory of the Kingdom of Tilan, the Kingdom of Tilan must have enough understanding of the area under its jurisdiction. Drawing a map was just the most basic work.

“So the investigation work also includes these!” He guessed that these people not only drew maps, but also investigated the possible resources around Winter Village. “

Yes, even the situation of potatoes will be recorded.” There was no need to hide this kind of thing. Marroni introduced the work that his men had to do: Is Winter Village a real village? What specialties and minerals are there in Winter Village and its vicinity, as well as the surrounding terrain, all of these need to be figured out.

Including choosing this straight route to Winter Village, it is all related to these tasks – they need to determine the distance from the Northern Outpost to Winter Village.

Even Maloney told David the route to take on the return journey. Unlike this time, when returning to Iron Tree Castle, Maloney will take his men along the route David took before, and by the way, check the situation of the river flowing out of the Iron Tree Forest and the situation of the abandoned village.

In general, Iron Tree Castle and the Kingdom of Tilan need to figure out the general situation of the Northern Plains, and then discuss how to govern such a large piece of land.

Should more outposts be built to penetrate the entire Northern Plains? Should a fortress be built? Should more manpower be mobilized to reclaim and transform this area and build a new city?

Of course, unless this area has rich mineral resources and they are of high value, it is unlikely that Iron Tree Castle will mobilize a large number of manpower to enter the Northern Plains to build a new city.

Just as Maroni was briefly introducing his work, a soldier on horseback who was on guard suddenly shouted a warning: “There are ‘people’ approaching quickly from the north.”

The people who were resting immediately stopped what they were doing, and several soldiers immediately rode their horses and looked to the north.

Laura’s movements were even more light, and she stood directly on the horse’s back, using her hands to build a canopy to block the sunlight so that she could see more clearly.

As a result, Laura, who stood the highest and had the best eyesight, was the first to see who was coming: “There were four creatures with brown and yellow bodies, strong bodies, simple protective gear and weapons in hand. Their mounts were giant wolves with long white hair…”

As Laura described, everyone realized who was rushing towards them – the group of guys who destroyed the pioneering team in the northeast.

David also rode on the horse at this time and held the hunting bow in his hand: “I didn’t expect to meet these guys when I was almost home. I thought this trip would be smooth and there would be no accidents.”

Although these guys who were suspected to be orcs rushed from the north, he was not worried about the situation in Winter Village. With Fording in charge of the village, even a hundred more orcs would not threaten Winter Village.

When everyone mounted their horses and prepared for battle, the distance between the two sides had become very close. David could even clearly see several fangs on the mouths of these guys.

“They look like orcs, right?”

Even if they were really orcs, he would not find it strange. Orcs exist in many worlds, and they are not limited to the world of Western magical backgrounds.

“These guys don’t look like they are here to say hello to us.” The noble official, Marlonie Mansfield, sat upright on his horse with his back straight. He did not look nervous or flustered at all, and gave orders in a steady voice: “Knight Hackett, you will be in charge of commanding this battle.”

“Yes, sir.” A fully armed knight drew out the long sword from his waist, raised it and pointed forward, shouted: “Charge!”, and then he took the lead in riding his horse and rushed out.

Several other fully armed soldiers immediately followed and drew their weapons one after another – except for the knight named Hackett, the weapons of the other soldiers were different: two war hammers, a chain hammer, and a heavy sword.

Four to five, neither side had an advantage in numbers. If we only look at the size, the opposite side is not only sturdy and stronger than the human soldiers, but also has a giant wolf with an astonishing size.

But in terms of equipment, the “orcs” who only have a few simple protective gears with a decorative effect far greater than a defensive effect, and the weapons in their hands look very rough and old, can’t really be compared with the elite knights of Iron Tree Castle.

Simply put, before the two sides really “collide”, it is difficult to judge who will win.

Boom!

The moment the two groups of cavalry crossed each other, there was a shocking loud noise. At the same time, the figures wearing armor and the sturdy brown and yellow giants fell to the ground one after another.

However, one “orc” was not shot down, and did not turn back to support his companions who were caught in the melee on the ground, but rushed straight towards David and his companions.

There was only one person left on the guard knight side, that was the commander Knight Hackett. After completing the charge, this knight immediately controlled the warhorse to turn, and also ignored his companions and chased after the only fish that escaped.

His duty was to protect Maloney Mansfield and his subordinates. If Maloney was not in danger, he would also protect David, Laura and others.

In this case, his choice would only be to return to help.

Normally, these giant wolf cavalry of strange races, because they didn’t know how long they had been running, and they launched a charge from a long distance. With the top warhorses under his crotch, he was fully confident that he could catch up with the enemy and kill them before the enemy threatened Lord Maloney.

But what he never expected was that when he turned his horse around and was about to speed up to chase, several giant wolf mounts beside him actually pounced on him from the side.

Although Hackett avoided the attack with his extraordinary reaction and martial arts, and returned a sword to the giant wolf that attacked him, and then swung his sword to force back another giant wolf.

But he was delayed for a moment, and the enemy had already rushed out far away and was about to kill Maroney.

Just when he regretted that he had underestimated the enemy and made such a big mistake, the enemy who rushed towards Lord Maroney-Mansfield suddenly fell off his mount…

Maroney-Mansfield saw the huge, ugly and ferocious enemy rushing towards him. If he said that he was not afraid at all, he would definitely be lying.

But he suppressed all these emotions, and stopped the attendant Huey who wanted to block him, and calmly drew out the long sword at his waist.

In the eyes of Marlonie Mansfield, among the few remaining people present, only he could be considered a fighting force… As for David and the others? The proud Lord Marlonie Mansfield did not allow himself to hide behind a few civilians.

Unexpectedly, when the ferocious guy was about to kill him, he was suddenly thrown off his mount and rolled on the ground for countless times. He was so embarrassed. He finally

stood up and covered his dizzy head to regain consciousness. The next second, several sharp arrows were nailed into his face, two of which shot directly into his head from his eye sockets. Judging from the performance of this tall guy falling backwards, he should be dead. After

a careful look, Marlonie noticed that the giant wolf that served as a mount also had several arrows nailed into its head. It seemed that it was because the mount was shot dead that this guy was thrown to the ground.

Turning his head to look at David beside him, David was still holding his bow and aiming, as if to remind everyone that everything that happened just now was done by him.

“Great archery!” After the crisis was resolved and Maroni regained his composure, he praised David’s archery. He could kill the enemy in an instant and save him from the crisis. Such archery skills were not exaggerated.

Moreover, David’s archery skills were really amazing. Just to say that in such a short time, David could shoot several arrows twice in a row, and all of them hit the target’s vital points. This is not something that ordinary hunters can do. Even if it was the

elite archers of Iron Tree Castle, they would not be able to do better than David.

(End of this chapter)