With a neigh, followed closely by a loud bang, a person was smashed into the tavern through the door, overturning several tables.
Instantly, the whole tavern was in chaos.
Pas and his men rushed out in a hurry.
What appeared before them was an incredible scene.
Including the red-bearded bald man, several ruffians had already passed out on the ground, and a few others were groaning in the corner, barely breathing. More were surrounding Grey with knives, but the encirclement was a bit large and loose, and they were all trembling.
As for Gray, he hadn't even drawn his sword. He was riding his horse, which was stepping rhythmically in place.
A ruffian roared and charged forward, but in a flash, the horse kicked back and sent him flying.
Pas and his mercenaries were stunned.
Gray kept weaving in and out of the encirclement...or rather, he was holding onto the reins tightly, and the horse was charging left and right in the encirclement, kicking, trampling, and striking, one set of moves after another, and the ruffians flew out one after another. Soon, they were all running away with their leader.
When all the ruffians had fled, Gray rode away on his horse, swaying.
Pas and his mercenaries were still in shock.
This horsemanship was simply amazing. Can a human really train a horse to this level? From beginning to end, Gray seemed to have done nothing, and even almost fell off his horse at one point. The whole process was purely the horse fighting on its own.
.....
"I was so scared... Oh my god, you actually won, and without using any magic. Did you plan to fight with a horse from the beginning?"
"Of course."
"How did you know horses could fight like that?"
"Undead knights in the underworld fight like that."
"Well, this is a bone horse, not a live one. But next time, can you at least give me a heads up? You scared me to death. Speaking of which, if you're so powerful, why were you running away earlier?"
"I am a peace-loving lich."
"Then why did you fight this time?"
"I couldn't stand the unfair treatment, especially from a group of people who don't even know magic."
"Oh, so you're a bully who's afraid of the tough guys?"
"Uh... I guess that's what it means. So what do we do next?"
"What else do you want to do?" The black cat almost screamed, but after thinking for a moment, he could only calm himself down and said, "It's already bedtime for humans. Let's find an inn and sleep. You have money now anyway."
"But liches don't need to sleep."
"But you're a knight now, right? Knights need to sleep! Even if you just pretend to sleep in the room, we'll see what happens tomorrow!"
"Okay..."
Staggering, Gray tied up the bone horse and walked into a small inn that was still open at midnight.
In the distance, Pas quietly followed and whispered to his henchman next to him, "Did you see his horse? I've never seen a jacket wrapped so tightly. And he never takes off his mask, maybe he's hiding something. This knight is definitely not an ordinary person. Let's find him tomorrow. If we can recruit him into the mercenary group, that would be great!"
At this moment, in the far-off darkness, a male angel who had already dispersed all his light silently appeared on the top of the attic one thousand meters away from where Gray lived, quietly watching the small inn.
Soon after, a female angel also appeared.
"What happened to the person who fought with him just now?"
"I checked it out, it was only a minor injury. He won some money using magic in a tavern, and that's about it."
"Gamble?"
"Yes."
Both angels fell into silence.
Watching the small inn for a while, the female angel whispered, "His magic power is not bad, but not particularly strong either. His skill seems to be inadequate. We should be able to handle him easily."
"That's not a good idea. According to the "Gray Robe Protocol", we don't have the right to deal with a lich until he violates any laws. This is an agreement between us and the Lich Council. Let's wait and see, he won't come up to the surface for no reason. There must be a purpose, right?"
Slowly, the two angels disappeared into the darkness.
...
The crowing of a rooster at dawn starts the day.
As the sky turned grey and dimly lit, people began to gradually emerge on the streets. The public began a new day, a new life.
"Hardworking" Gray also pushed open the door and walked out of his room, casually tossing two silver coins on the counter of the inn. He stepped out the door, mounted his skeletal horse, and walked down the street.
"My plan for today is to first go to the castle, pledge my loyalty to the lord, and then go to the blacksmith's shop to buy a long spear."
"Why do you make it sound so simple to pledge loyalty to the lord?"
"Isn't it simple? I can't think of a reason why he would refuse. Knights are the lord's soldiers, right? Who would refuse a knight who willingly pledges his loyalty and doesn't require payment? If a skeleton soldier pledged loyalty to me, I definitely wouldn't refuse."
"Oh really? I don't think there's a reason for him to reject you."
The black cat sneered, but Gray clearly had no intention of listening to him.
Their relationship was always so delicate, obviously not on the same page, yet they had to squeeze into the same set of armor.
Riding their horses, the lich and the cat arrived at the castle gate soon after.
A moat six or seven meters wide, a heavy wooden bridge with iron frames, and a five-meter-tall gate were wide open, with half of the wrist-thick iron railing lowered.
The two guards at the gate stood still like statues, holding spears. One of them glanced at Gray quietly and then looked away.
"Hello, I'm here to pledge loyalty to your lord," Gray said.
The two guards continued to stand motionless.
"Hello, I'm here to pledge loyalty to your lord, can you help introduce me?" Gray said again.
The two guards still remained motionless.
"Hello..."
"Do you have a title?" the taller guard finally spoke up.
"No, but once I pledge my loyalty to your lord, I will have one."
The guard gave Gray a disdainful look. "I'm sorry, our lord does not accept wild knights. Who knows if you're a beggar in knight's armor?"
The other guard standing next to him laughed, "Maybe he's a lich wearing a knight's armor. Hahaha."
Gray was taken aback.
"What? Any objections?" The taller guard raised an eyebrow.
"No, I think you make a good point." Gray quickly turned around and climbed onto his skeletal horse, riding away in embarrassment.
Watching Gray's figure disappear, the shorter guard muttered to himself, "Is this guy crazy? I thought he was going to say something else or bribe us. He just left like that?"
"Probably some fool from a rural village," the taller guard replied.
...
"Did I just reveal my identity?"
"I don't think so."
"If not, why did he say 'a lich in knights' armour'?"
"He was just joking."
"Do humans like to joke about lich? That's really mean!"
"Um..." the black cat said speechlessly, "why do you sometimes have so much courage, and sometimes you are so timid?"
"As long as he doesn't think I'm a lich, there's nothing to be afraid of."
In a small alley, Gray peeked his head out and observed the guards at the gate from afar.
In the distance behind him, another head peeked out from another alley. Pas was observing him from a distance.
"What kind of person do you think he is? He seems very interested in the Count's castle. He even tried to get in earlier."
"Could he be a noble?"
"If he were a noble, he should be wearing a badge. Let's wait and see. Maybe we can recruit him if we get the chance."
Soon, a servant walked out of the castle and posted a notice on the nearby bulletin board. The pedestrians around them gathered around.
Gray also led his horse over.
"This afternoon, the knights under Count Caspar will have a duel with the knights of the Bechel family. If the Bechel knights win, Count Caspar will pledge his loyalty to Miss Eileen Bebella Bechel. If Count Caspar's knights win, Miss Eileen Bebella Bechel will accept Charles Caspar's proposal. The residents of the entire city are invited to witness this... What does this mean?"
"Should be the literal meaning. Bechel; hmm... maybe the daughter of Duke Bechel. And a powerful landlord; Charlie Casper might be Count Casper himself, or maybe his son, who knows?"
"I mean, if the invitation is for all the city residents to watch, can I also go?"
"You should be able to."
"Then I can see the lord!" Gray's eyes lit up all at once.
The black cat nestled in Gray's helmet rolled its eyes.
...
Castle tower, Eileen's room.
Eileen, along with all the subordinates she brought, including Abe Robert and Horsche, were all gathered together, each with a gloomy expression.
"Why agree to such conditions?" Horsche burst out first.
"Because he will only agree to such conditions," Eileen emphasized.
"Then why don't we just not negotiate with him! Those attendants can't keep us trapped. We can just break out!"
"Then what?" Eileen asked, "Where will we find helpers? Count Casper is our last hope. Without him, how can we face the king's army?"
Horsche widened his eyes, clenched his fists, but could only close his mouth.
"We shouldn't have come in the first place." A young knight next to him spat out and said angrily, "This is clearly a trap. He just wants us to think he's wavering and then come to him personally. He never intended to offend the king for Miss Eileen, let alone shed blood for the Bechel family."
In the eyes of every knight present, there was anger, but they were helpless.
Only Eileen remained calm as usual.
"We have no way out. We had no way out from the beginning, not just after coming here. From the moment everyone refused the king's arbitration with me, we all had no way out. For the sake of our family names, we have no way out. Count Casper is just one of the many challenges we need to overcome."
The room was silent, and everyone looked quietly at Eileen.
"As the 13th generation heir of the Bechel's family, I, Eileen Bebella Bechel, hope you can walk with me to the end and share the fruits of victory together. Along the way, we will shed blood, make sacrifices, and even we may not make it to the end. But regardless, your names will be remembered forever. The Bechel family will always remember your loyalty until the day it no longer exists."
"Clang!" Everyone struck their breastplates heavily and stood at attention.
Horsche maintained the posture of hitting his breastplate with a hammer and said loudly, "Those who are still here will not back down. No one has ever doubted their initial choice. We... we just want to know how to move forward."
"How many of us are there?" Eileen asked softly, looking at Horsche.
"There are only eleven of us with knight titles. There are far more knights under Count Casper. Even if each of us takes care of two, there are only twenty-two of them.
"Are there any non-knight fighters?"
"Well..."
Looking at the hesitant Horsche, Eileen slowly said, "All the knight followers are immediately promoted to knights. I will bestow them with titles."
"In that case, there will be twenty-five, still not enough. It's too few."
Eileen took out a bag of gold coins and threw it to Abe Robert, "Go, find the mercenary group in the city, and bring them all here. Bring my emblem with you, and as many people as possible."
"Will Casper agree to us doing this?"
"He has already agreed. I told him that I have another group of people arriving today and asked you to go pick them up."
Abe Robert silently saluted and hurriedly walked out of the door.
Looking around at everyone, Eileen said expressionlessly, "Everyone else, rest well. Do your best this afternoon."
"Yes!"
Everyone in the room looked solemn, holding onto their determination to die.
At this moment, Eileen and her loyal knights undoubtedly encountered the biggest challenge of their lives, but also ushered in the biggest turning point of their lives.
At this moment, she did not know that a huge shadow was approaching her. The owner of the shadow was a small and strange lich. At least he was small before he transformed his body to fit into armor.