As dawn was breaking, everyone started packing for departure.
With the wolf cavalry getting closer and closer, an anxious mood began to spread among the fleeing party.
Sael stuffed the half of the wild rabbit left over from yesterday's meal into his pocket. He ignored the constant whispering of his companion and looked around the camp for that beautiful figure.
Soon, Sael pinpointed his target.
Unfortunately, there was another man standing next to that figure.
Sael touched his left cheek. The whip mark still throbbed slightly.
Seeing Sael in a daze, his companion Bam couldn't help but sneered, "Enough, Sael, stop looking. The honorable lady is not someone that a common mercenary like you can aim for."
"Who says a mercenary can't fancy a noble lady?" Sael retorted impatiently.
"Ha ha, do you really understand the gap between commoners and nobles? Silly boy!"
"Don't call me silly boy!" Sael turned his head and glared at Bam fiercely.
"Alright, alright." Bam shrank back in fear and hastily begged for mercy.
Sael then let him off and followed that figure with his gaze again. His voice deep, he asked, "Bam, do you know Count Uman?"
"Of course, Lord of the Fallen Eagle City."
"That's right, do you know how Count Uman got his title?"
"Wasn't it passed down by his father?"
"Yes. So, do you know how his father got that title?"
"Passed down by his grandfather, right?" Bam found the question a bit silly.
"No." Sael shook his head slowly, "His father got it from his grandmother."
"So?" Bam scratched his bird's nest-like hair, his face full of confusion.
"Why was it passed down by the grandmother instead of the grandfather?" Sael's eyes sparkled strangely, "Because Count Uman's grandfather was a common mercenary!"
"How is that possible?" Bam exclaimed.
"But that is the truth.
The grandfather of Count Uman, as a mercenary, married the daughter of the then lord of Fallen Eagle City. Unfortunately, the lord's son died early, and the title was passed to Count Uman's grandmother, and then to his father - the son of that mercenary!"
Bam's mouth dropped open as if he was listening to a heavenly tale.
Sael's eyes shone with a peculiar light, one called ambition.
He leaned close to Bam, spoke in a low voice as if making a vow, "So, the son of a mercenary can become a noble!"
Having said that, Sael immediately strode towards the figure.
Bam watched his tall companion's retreating back, feeling a mix of emotions.
However, what Sael didn't tell Bam was that the mercenary who married the count's daughter was a sixth-order warrior and the head of the North Territory Mercenaries Union. He was once called "the first man under the Holy Field".
"Good morning, Miss Vera! Good morning, Knight Colin! May I lead your horse as an apology for offending you yesterday?"
Looking at the seemingly modest mercenary in front of him, Colin felt annoyed. He waved dismissively, as if chasing away a fly, "No need."
"You do not accept my apology?" Sael immediately put on a wronged expression, and purposefully revealed his whip-marked left cheek that was still oozing blood.
"Colin, a true knight should know how to forgive." Vera seemed to be deceived by the mercenary's pitiful appearance, and actually spoke up for him.
Sael felt a twinge of joy, and pain at the same time.
The joy was that Miss Vera would speak for him.
The pain was that she addressed Colin by his name, without adding the suffix of "Knight"!
It was an extremely intimate way of addressing.
What an immodest woman!
"No, I find it incredibly wasteful to have the head of the Firefox Mercenary Group merely holding my horse. In fact, I have a more important task for Commander Sael."
"You overestimate me..." Sael instinctively sensed trouble.
"What, you don't want to do me this favor?" Colin didn't give the other party a chance to refuse.
"I... of course, I want to. It's my honor." Sael had to grudgingly agree, but he already started to regret in his heart.
"Great!" Colin grinned, revealing sharp canine teeth, "To shake off the pursuers behind us, we need to mislead them so they won't know our real moves.
So, in a while, I need you to lead fifty men—pick the young, strong, and fastest ones against the north. After about twenty or thirty kilometers, you should reach the banks of Ben Liu River.
At that point, you should deliberately leave traces as if you crossed the river and headed north, but in reality, you don't need to cross the river. Instead, quietly follow the Ben Liu River eastward for about ten kilometers until you reunite with us.
Of course, you must be careful to erase any marks of your passage when going downstream, we cannot lead the enemy here!
Do you understand?"
Sael was sweating profusely. It seemed even more to him that Colin was settling a personal score and finding an excuse to get rid of him: "Are you... are you make me a bait?"
"No, not bait, a feint!" Colin said seriously, "Moreover, we will coordinate with your action. As long as you do exactly as I said, there won't be any danger."
"How do you coordinate?" Sael was still worried.
Colin frowned.
If this were in the regular army and Sael dared to ask such a question, the commander could cut off his head directly.
Commanders have no obligation to explain their entire strategy to every subordinate.
Once the military order is received, they should just act according to its requirements.
They should not be questioning, hesitating, picking, and choosing.
Even if the commander really assigned you a suicide mission, you could only go and execute it.
The military order is like a mountain; even if it really is going to crush you, you cannot hide!
Unconditional obedience is the first duty of a soldier.
But obviously, a mercenary like Sael would not have the qualities of a real soldier.
Helpless, Colin could only patiently explain:
"All our cavalry will spread out and eradicate the scout cavalry of the Wolf Cavalry behind us, ensuring that for the next couple of days, they cannot figure out our real moves. So, as long as you hurry up, you won't be caught."
After thinking for a while, Sael asked: "So, your plan is to have me lead a small team deliberately crossing the river to confuse the enemy, while the main force will hide somewhere?"
"Correct."
"How do you know the enemy will take the bait? Even if we meticulously clean up our tracks, as long as one searches carefully, hints can be found."
"Because, we will be hiding in a place they would never think of."
"Where?"
Colin was gradually getting annoyed: "Mr. Sael, have you been to the Ben Liu River area before?"
"No."
"Then you wouldn't understand." Colin gently nudged his horse belly and slowly moved forward:
"Just do what I told you. After reaching the southern bank of the Ben Liu River, make some crossing imitations, then continue eastward along the river. You will reach the hiding place I mentioned and reunite with the main force; by then, you will understand."
"Knight Colin..." Sael tried to catch up with a few steps and ask again.
"Mr. Sael, I believe you can definitely complete this task, right?" Vera said in a gentle voice.
Sael immediately puffed up his chest, thumping it loudly:
"Of course! I won't let you down!"
Unfortunately, the young mercenary who was dazed by Vera's charm didn't see Colin's mocking laugh as he moved a few steps ahead and turned his back.