Before nightfall, the cavalrymen had already rushed back to Quarryton.
Quarryton was very quiet at night. There was almost no other sound except for the whispers coming from the houses of the townspeople.
The return of the cavalrymen caused a ripple in the peaceful town.
Ever since Locke and the others left, Billy had been worried about Karl and asked him to guard the town entrance with him.
While chewing on the dinner that his wife had just sent over, Billy chatted with Karl while looking sideways at the main road outside the town from time to time.
Karl knew what Billy was worried about, so he smiled and comforted him, "Don't worry, they're just a few bandits."
Although Karl reassured Billy, he couldn't help but overthink when he was old. Billy had suffered a lot at the hands of these bandits over the years.
As soon as Locke's cavalrymen returned, Billy wiped his mouth with his sleeve, got up, and ran over to them.
The return of the cavalrymen was very noisy. Most of the townspeople ran out to see the cavalrymen who had just returned.
The sound of the iron-clad hooves on the ground and the orderly formation of the cavalrymen made every villager feel a sense of security.
This group of cavalrymen had returned bathed in blood. Many people could smell the stench of blood from afar.
Billy Sr. resisted the discomfort of his sense of smell and stepped forward.
The leader of the cavalrymen was Locke. His bright yellow armour was now stained with blood. Coupled with the last ray of sunset in the distance, Locke looked like a bloody devil in the eyes of the villagers.
"How's the situation?" Although he had already guessed the answer from the imposing manner of the returning cavalrymen, Billy still couldn't help but ask. As the sky was getting dark, he wasn't sure if there were casualties among the cavalrymen.
Locke answered Billy's question with his actions. He whistled and each of the cavalrymen threw the cloth bags tied to their horses' legs into the air. Twenty to thirty balls flew out, accompanied by splatters of blood.
Some of the bolder townsfolk mustered up their courage and walked in to see what was inside the cloth bag. "Ugh!" Almost everyone who saw the scene bent over and vomited.
Billy, who was the closest to Locke, saw it the clearest. The head that Locke threw out belonged to the leader of the Red Maple Bandits, who had frequently invaded Quarryton and caused the most damage. This man with a scar on his face had even extorted a considerable amount of money and food from Billy last month.
But now, Billy only saw his head. There was a scar on his face that had been distorted due to the intense pain. It looked like a centipede crawling on a winter melon. It made Billy feel nauseous.
As the mayor, Billy quickly adjusted himself and said, "There won't be any survivors, right?" Since the Red Maple Bandits had horses, if any of them escaped, Quarryton Town would be faced with endless ambitions.
"No," answered Locke. He patted Billy's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, no one can escape from the baron's cavalry, not to mention that Locke is leading the team."
Although Billy was still suspicious, he did not show it because he did not see any spare horses or treasures from the Red Maple Bandits.
Karl wasn't interested in telling Billy about the power of low-rank Knechts, nor did he think too much about Billy's thoughts. He stepped forward and shouted at Locke, "Go back, I'll watch over the town!"
Locke nodded, kicked his horse's butt and rode towards Maple Village.
Under Karl's command, the rest of the cavalrymen entered Quarryton in an orderly manner.
Locke's expression was very solemn as he rode on the bumpy mountain road. He suddenly realised that he was very different from ordinary people.
When the cavalrymen returned victorious, they weren't greeted with cheers from the townspeople. Instead, they were surprised and felt a sense of distance. He could even see fear in the eyes of many people.
Whether it was Locke or the soldiers led by Cardoj, they were already indifferent to blood and death. Not to mention dozens of heads, they had seen even more spectacular and tragic deaths. The smell of blood was simply nothing to them.
However, ordinary civilians were different. More than half of the townspeople covered their mouths and wanted to vomit when they felt the strong smell of blood at such a close distance. Those who didn't vomit only felt that the smell was strange, but they didn't see what was in the cloth bag.
Locke could already see the big tree at the entrance of Maple Village when he galloped in the night sky.
Instead of rushing into the village, Locke rode to the river at the entrance.
It was March and the river had thawed, but it was still cold, especially since it was still night time.
After getting off the horse, Locke jumped into the water. The bone-chilling water stimulated his nerves and washed away the smell and blood on his body.
His horse tilted its head and looked at its owner strangely. It snorted as if it was mocking Locke for being crazy.
Locke saw that there was a lot of blood on the horse in the water. The horse neighed in fear and was mercilessly dragged into the water by Locke. As a low-rank Knecht, Locke's arm strength was comparable to that of a brown bear.
After three minutes, when the smell was almost washed away, Locke jumped ashore.
The horse didn't seem to know how to swim as it thrashed around in the water. In the end, Locke used a little impetus and managed to pull the horse ashore. Even as a low-rank Knecht, he wasn't interested in taking a hit from the horse's hooves without any armour or impetus to protect himself.
The horse looked at Locke in fear and let out a low whine.
Locke got on the horse and it started galloping on its own without much movement. Its fur shook as it ran. By the time it reached the entrance of the village, there were almost no water droplets on its body.
There were still a few soldiers standing guard at the entrance of the village. They were the ones that Locke had requested to stay behind when he left during the day. The soldiers were very dedicated and none of them slacked off.
"Brother Locke!" As soon as he got closer, the soldiers who stayed behind recognized him. Locke's armour was too iconic.
"Yes," Locke responded under the armour. "There's no need for all of us to stand guard. Just split into two groups and take turns." With that, Locke left on his horse.
"Yes, Sir!" The soldiers replied.
When he arrived at his house, the gate was already open. Locke Senior knew that Locke was a cavalry jarl. As soon as he heard the sound of hooves in the village, he knew that his son had returned.
As expected, it was indeed their son.
Tia went to close the gate. Locke Senior looked at the horse in the courtyard in amazement.
"It's stronger than the ones in the town's relay station. It's also much more energetic than the baron's caravan!" Locke Senior stretched out his hand and wanted to touch the fur on the horse's neck. However, the horse took two steps back and looked at him vigilantly. One of its hind legs was already half raised as if it was going to kick at any time.
"Huh?" Locke glared at it and placed his palm on the horse's back. The horse instantly quieted down like a quiet baby, allowing Locke Senior to rub its beautiful fur.
"Why are you still wet? Quick, take off your clothes. I'll get Lia to wash them for you! "Tia was more concerned about other things.
He took off his heavy armour and handed the wet clothes inside to Lia, who had been watching him for a long time.
"Have you eaten? If not, I'll go back to the house and get you some. There's still leftovers, "Tia said.
"Not yet," replied Locke.
Tia immediately went back into the house to get Locke some food. There were two pancakes and half a pot of vegetable soup left from dinner. They were perfect for Locke to eat after heating them up.
"What does this horse eat?" Locke Senior was still paying attention to the horse that Locke had brought back. The horse was originally very handsome, but it looked like a large hedgehog after being tossed around by Locke Senior.
"Don't worry about it. It won't starve to death," replied Locke casually. This was his negligence. There was no fodder for the horse in the village, so he had to go to town tomorrow to feed it.
However, it was a superior horse of the cavalry platoon, so it wouldn't be a problem for it to go hungry for a day or two. Sometimes, during rapid marches, it could go without food for a day and night.
Fortunately, the horse didn't understand human language, or else it would cry to death. It had followed Locke for a whole day, but in the end, not only did it get a cold bath, it didn't even get to eat dinner.
Because of the battle, Locke went to bed early today.
Lia was still washing Locke's clothes. She smelled something strange from the clothes.
She put her nose close to it and smelled a faint bloody smell, but it was more of Locke's manly scent.
Lia blushed and quickly pressed the clothes into the water. She didn't care where the blood came from as long as it wasn't Locke's.
Although there were many scars on Locke's body when he took off his clothes, they were all scabs from old wounds. Lia didn't notice any other wounds.
She seemed to have thought of Locke's strong muscles just now and became even more confused. She could only scrub the clothes in her hands.
Tia had already fallen asleep, but Locke Senior was still awake.
He still felt that he should feed the horse something. Otherwise, it would starve. If it died, he didn't know how much money he would have to pay for it.
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable he felt. He got up in the middle of the night and went to the woodshed, where Locke had left the horse.
In the woodshed, the horse stared at Locke Senior. It still remembered the horror left by its master, so it didn't dare to act rashly.
It snorted impatiently. It thought that Locke Senior was here to play with its fur again, so it consciously moved its neck over, wanting to get it over with as soon as possible.
A few pieces of potato fragments and rice residue appeared in Locke Senior's hands. The horse lowered its head and stared at these things that it had never touched before.
The horse moved its nose closer and sniffed. Is it edible?
Locke Senior's smiling eyes answered it.
Locke Senior didn't wake up until ten o'clock the next day. He stretched and practiced his routine fist techniques. Although he didn't have anyone to teach him, he felt that these moves that he had figured out were very useful.
He originally planned to go to town at noon to see if Hans and the others were back, but this plan was put on hold.
It seemed that his horse had eaten something bad.
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Xiao Dou once again wanted to thank the readers who recommended "Knight's Journey". Thank you!