"Why are you so opposed to this little mercenary?"
After Sael left, Vera asked with a provocative tone.
Apparently, Vera had noticed Colin's hostility towards Sael. However, she thought it was just the two men fighting over her out of jealousy.
At this thought, her face, hidden beneath the black gauze, turned slightly red, but a trace of secret delight arose in her heart.
Women always enjoy seeing men fight over them, even if she doesn't like any of them.
"A person who dares to kill his own father does not deserve my respect." Colin said righteously, not hesitating to expose Sael's dark secret.
"What?" Vera was very surprised.
"Indeed, Sael is a venomous snake, we should be careful," chipped in Knight Blis from the side.Having also disapproved of this notorious patricide.
"I see." Vera nodded, blacklisting this clever little mercenary she initially found intriguing.
"All right, let's get back to the matter at hand."
Vera began to introduce Colin to the specifics of the situation discovered by the scout cavalry.
By this time, it was certain that two groups of wolf cavalry had caught up, each group consisting of about seven to eight hundred men. Their combined numbers were already equivalent to their current force.
However, the enemy consisted of the elite troll wolf cavalry from their regular army, while their side, other than the not quite a hundred strong cavalry team that could be considered as the best, the rest were all refugees who had fled from the Mirror Lake camp.
Furthermore, these refugees were all mercenaries and peasants pulled together after an emergency conscription.
It was completely a ragtag crowd.
Even Vera, who lacked basic military knowledge, began to panic under such circumstances. She quickly turned to Colin to discuss tactics.
Colin sighed and made one last attempt. "We can still make it if we abandon these refugees now and only go with the cavalry team."
"Isn't there a better way?" Vera was still unwilling to give up.
Seeing the misplaced kindness of this female mage, Colin once again tried to persuade her: "I know you don't want to abandon them, but even if we stay, we can't save them. We would only risk our lives."
Vera fell silent, but her eyes remained stubborn.
Colin could only turn to Knight Blis, hoping that this battle-hardened knight would be more rational.
However, Knight Blis's eyes were full of determination. "It was I who brought these people to the battlefield, and I have already abandoned them once. I do not want to abandon them a second time."
It was then that Colin learned that Blis had accepted the refugees not because of Vera's orders, but out of guilt.
In Colin's view, Blis was only following the Marquis's order and could not be held accountable. But facing the resolute Knight Blis, Colin felt a sense of sadness.
He knew very well that once people like Blis had made a decision, it would be very difficult to persuade them otherwise.
However, Knight Blis was also aware that this time the odds were against them. So he looked straight into Colin's eyes, earnestly requesting: "Knight Colin, I hope you could take Miss Vera and leave first—"
"No! I won't go!" Vera immediately refused.
"Miss Vera—"
"I am not leaving! These are my people, I have a responsibility to protect them!"
The atmosphere suddenly became melodramatic...
Colin felt a headache, as if he was watching a scene in a melodramatic TV drama.
However, the phrase "my people" that Vera had blurted out in her haste had taken him by surprise.
Only a member of the St. Hilde family, and a direct one at that, would have the privilege to say such a thing.
But Duke St. Hilde did not have a daughter.
Could it be an illegitimate daughter?
That's not right.
Colin thought again. Although the noble laws of this world were very similar to those of Earth's Middle Ages, there was a difference. Here, illegitimate children (sons or daughters) absolutely had no right of inheritance.
The nobles here were particularly obsessed with the purity of their bloodline.
Even if all the legitimate children were to die out, the nobles would prefer to select an inheritor from the collateral line of their family, rather than pass on their nobility to an illegitimate child.
So, even if Vera really is the illegitimate daughter of the Northern Duke, she does not have the right to say "my citizens".
While Colin was imagining all the potentials about Vera's real identity, the argument between the two had toned down.
As expected, Knight Blis could not persuade Vera to leave first.
Although she may seem a bit of a saint, or even naive, this female mage had indeed shown commendable courage.
The tent fell into silence.
After a while, Blis suddenly spoke:
"Knight Colin, you need to leave here. I'm sure you already heard from Knight Raymon, your father Baron Angler has fallen in battle. Therefore, you need to go back and succeed his title."
Colin looked up abruptly at Blis's expressionless face, and asked abruptly, "Why didn't this news make it back to Grey Castle?"
Blis hesitated for a moment, but told him truthfully, "Since the end of last year, Marquis has ordered to block all news from the frontline."
"Why?"
Blis did not answer.
But Colin could guess the answer.
Probably since then, the frontline situation had rapidly deteriorated. Marquis Charles could have cut off all news to save face or prevent instability among the people at the back.
However, he might be unaware that such a move indirectly caused the death of Colin's predecessor.
Charles St. Hilde.
Colin quietly added this name to his blacklist.
"Knight Colin, you should go back to Grey Castle first, people there need you..." Vera, who had just learned about the news, immediately felt sympathy for Colin and also tried to persuade him to leave first.
But Colin declined with a passionate and magnanimous stance saying:
"I won't leave either! Whether it's for my father's revenge, or for the honor of the human race, I must stay here and fight the Troll to the death!"
Of course, Colin would not leave at this point.
He is not because of the lofty reasons, but he doesn't want to waste the blood of a high-ranking knight and a mage...
"Colin…" Vera's beautiful big eyes sparkled with admiration, "You are a real knight!"
Even Blis seemed moved, looking at Colin as if he were seeing him in a new light.
The three looked at each other for a long time, the tent filled with an atmosphere of self-sacrifice...
Unfortunately, what Vera and Blis did not know was that Colin had already begun to contemplate how he was going to play dead...
When the three of them gradually calmed down, they finally began to discuss their strategy.
Since they had already determined the principle of "never give up, never surrender", it was inevitable to be caught up by the wolf cavalry with all these burdens.
A fight was inevitable.
Blis started to detail his battle plan, such as where to meet the enemy, how to construct simple defense works, how to cooperate between cavalry and infantry, and so on.
Vera was listening very carefully.
As for how much this female mage, who lacks military knowledge, could understand, only God knows.
Colin, however, was absent-minded as if he was thinking about something else.
"Knight Colin, Knight Colin?"
"What?" Colin came back to his senses, seeing both of them staring at him.
"Do you have any opinions on this plan?"
Colin did not answer this question, but carefully said, "Sorry, I was distracted. I was thinking that perhaps, we might be able to avoid this battle."
"Really? How do we avoid it?" Vera asked with hope.
Unless it's absolutely necessary, she wouldn't want to be a martyr either.
Besides, the successful breakout previously had given her confidence, making her believe that Colin might create another miracle.
Colin calmly drew a simple map on the ground with his riding whip, pointed at a river bay and said:
"We can hide there!"