Colin felt that he wasn't a saint.
But unexpectedly, he came across one.
However, it wasn't surprising.
Despite Vera's outstanding strength, she was still young.
Most of her time was spent in the Vier Tower, studying arcane magic. Having not yet experienced the harsh realities of the world, it was understandable that she was a little naive, a little saintly.
But what frustrated Colin was that Knight Blis was also very clear that they should abandon these fleeing soldiers. Yet no matter how Colin tried to persuade him, the knight from the St. Hilde family stubbornly refused to go against Vera's will.
This confused Colin, in addition to making him angry.
Just who was Vera?
From Colin's perspective, Blis's strength probably made him a fourth-order knight. Even within the St. Hilde Family, this would be considered a core force. His status would certainly not be low.
So why was he so unquestioningly obeying this female mage, even risking his own life to do so?
If it weren't for the fact that he knew Duke St. Hilde only had three sons and no daughters, Colin would have wondered if Vera was the Duke's daughter.
Although he felt hopeless for the future of this team, Colin didn't panic too much.
Even if they were surrounded and attacked by the wolf cavalry, he could play dead to escape.
There likely wasn't anyone in this world who could play dead better than him...
In this regard, Colin was quite confident.
As for the others, they would have to fend for themselves.
He was powerless to help.
In the following two days, everything remained calm.
There were no pursuing trolls, not even any foolish thieves.
On the other hand, they encountered several groups of soldiers fleeing from the battlefield at Mirror Lake.
Naturally, Saint Vera didn't hesitate to take them in.
With this, their initial squad of cavalry, originally less than a hundred people, rapidly swelled to over a thousand in size.
Although their numbers had increased, anyone who had some basic military knowledge would know that their combat power hadn't improved much.
Marching and war weren't necessarily better with more people, especially during a "strategic relocation."
It was quite clear that Vera was one of those people who had no military sense.
Surprisingly, under Sael's flattery, when she saw the size of the team expand, she became even more confident. She even had the absurd idea of continuing to assemble more fugitive soldiers and fight a decisive battle with the trolls.
However, aside from these troubles, there was also some good news.
The recently accepted group of fleeing soldiers told them that after the troll's main army defeated the Marquis Charles, they rushed north. So, the area near Mirror Lake was actually safe now.
This news brought great jubilation and excitement to the people.
This meant that the only thing faced by the fleeing team was the wolf cavalry unit that had been pursuing them before.
Even though the wolf cavalry had initially misjudged their escape direction, they should have corrected their course by now after several days had passed.
According to Colin's idea, the wisest thing to do now was to abandon the fleeing soldiers and continue north, finding and hiding in the nearest human town before the wolf cavalry caught up.
Not continue to accept more fleeing soldiers, allowing their marching speed to be dragged down, and eventually being caught by the wolf cavalry again.
As Colin predicted, things took a turn for the worst.
After two more days, they finally saw signs of troll scout cavalry again on their tail.
"Young Master Colin, it looks like the previous Wolf Cavalry will catch up soon. We should leave the group and escape on our own!" Clearly sensing danger, Knight Raymon quietly approached Colin and proposed.
Surprisingly, Colin wasn't panicking now.
In fact, he found himself wanting to see the fate of those who had ignored his advice and brought it upon themselves.
Perhaps he could even have the chance to get the blood of Knight Blis and Mage Vera.
For this, Colin didn't feel the least bit guilty.
He did not intentionally harm these two people for the sake of bloodshed.
On the contrary, he had warned them earlier, but they insisted on courting death, so he had no choice but to abide by the principle of "waste not, want not".
However...
Colin glanced at Raymon who was beside him.
For this loyal knight, he did not want him to die here.
"You run first, I still have to..."
"Young Master! If you don't leave, I won't either!"
Apparently, Raymon misunderstood Colin's meaning.
But Colin couldn't explain, he couldn't just tell him that he was good at playing dead, could he?
While Colin was thinking about how to coax the stubborn Raymon away, a soldier came to deliver a message: "Sir Colin, Lord Blis summons you."
"Ok." Colin had to temporarily put aside his worries and followed the soldier to a tent in the central area of the camp.
In the tent, besides Vera and Blis, the filial son Sael was also present.
In recent days, thanks to his eloquent speech, clever mind, and obsequious manner, Sael had clearly become Vera's lackey.
Colin had to admire his adeptness at currying favor.
But at the same time, he felt a wave of disgust towards this annoying guy.
"Knight Colin, you're here." Vera greeted Colin with a smile, apparently not holding any grudges about the previous dispute about accepting defeated soldiers.
Blis still just nodded lukewarmly.
Sael bowed, his face beaming with a warm smile: "I didn't expect to see you again, respected Cain..."
"SLAP!"
Colin swung the whip in his hand and cut off the second half of Sael's sentence abruptly.
"Knight Colin, what are you doing?" Vera was startled by this development and immediately demanded an explanation.
Colin sneered, pointing at Sael who was knocked to the ground and rebuked, "Remember my name, mercenary boy - Colin Angler!"
Sael was clearly stunned by Colin's lash.
He still couldn't figure out how the previous "Cain Sudor" had become "Colin Angler", but the burning pain on his body reminded him of what he should do at this moment.
"I apologize, respected Sir Colin, I made a mistake."
As a commoner, Sael had no right to challenge a noble, even if that noble had indeed lied.
"Humph! You are to lead Knight Colin's horse as punishment!" Having figured out the reason for the incident, Vera gave a cold hum, not blaming Colin any further. Instead, she felt that the whip as punishment was somewhat lenient.
In this world with strict hierarchies, a commoner calling a noble by the wrong name could be hanged for it.
Colin, seemingly furious on the outside, felt a profound sense of satisfaction on the inside and couldn't help but chuckle.
He had been annoyed with this filial son for a long time and used this opportunity for payback.
Of course, it was also to prevent him from revealing that he had used a fake name.
"All right, Knight Colin, we asked you here this time to discuss our next journey. As you may know, the wolf cavalry is catching up with us again from behind."
Colin did not immediately respond to Vera's question. Instead, he commanded Sael, who was still kneeling on the ground, "Get out!"
Sael clenched his fists quietly, but he did not dare to challenge Colin and could only look at Vera for help.
But he clearly overestimated his status in Vera's heart.
"Sael, you should leave."
"Yes."
Sael had no choice but to get up and leave.
At the same time, he buried his head deep down, hoping to hide the uncontainable anger in his eyes.