"The Marquis is not here?"
"Yes."
"Then where is he now?"
In the center of the camp on the east side of Jing Lake, in the largest and most luxurious tent, a man and a woman were talking.
If Colin were here, he would immediately recognize that the half-kneeling man was the knight of the Saint Hilde family who had previously issued an emergency recruitment order to the Fire Fox Mercenary Group.
The proud knight at the beginning now looked groveling.
"My Lord Marquis..." Faced with the question from the woman in front of him, the knight seemed a little hesitant.
"Knight Bliss, if this question involves military orders, you don't need to say anything." The woman said softly without embarrassing the knight.
This is a tall woman, wearing a slightly loose snow-white fox fur coat, with beautiful golden hair hanging down from her shoulders and back. The hair is flashing with light and shadow, as if it has some kind of magic power, which makes people feel... I didn't dare to take a closer look, but I couldn't help but indulge in it.
A layer of translucent black gauze covered her face, but the elegance and nobility that penetrated her bones could not be concealed.
There is an irresistible quality in every move she makes.
This kind of commanding temperament can only be possessed by true nobles.
However, the mage hat on her head and the purple staff in her hand showed that she was a mage.
This is a bit strange.
Because, in the human empire of this world, nobles and mages, although they cannot be regarded as mortal enemies, are still two incompatible creatures.
The reason is simple - mages have no faith.
In the eyes of these spellcasters, only arcane truth is the eternal pursuit.
The gods, on the other hand, are just powerful mortals who have mastered arcane truths.
Therefore, in the eyes of the noble knights who believe in the Lord of Glory, the group of mages are complete blasphemers and heretics who should be burned on the stake.
However, in the Glorious Empire where the nobles held absolute power, although mages were not welcomed, they did not suffer much persecution.
The reason is also very simple - the mages are powerful enough.
Of course, the godless mage is the same as the warrior profession. The ceiling of strength is level six. There has never been a holy mage.
However, it is somewhat different from a warrior.
Even if the mages cannot enter the holy realm, they can still exert their strength above the holy realm.
This method is the forbidden spell.
With sufficient preliminary preparation, expensive casting materials, and extremely terrible costs, a sixth-level mage can release the forbidden spell.
During the most intense period of the struggle between the Church of Radiance and the Council of Mages, ten sixth-level mages once joined forces to release the forbidden curse - [Stars Falling].
This terrible curse once wiped a city with a population of millions off the map!
Of course, the mages also paid a heavy price for this forbidden spell.
Seven of the ten sixth-level mages died on the spot, and the remaining three also died within the next five years.
However, their sacrifices also made the church and nobles deeply understand the terror of mages, and eventually the two sides reached a certain degree of reconciliation.
However, the grudges left over from thousands of years of struggle cannot be easily resolved. Coupled with the irreconcilable conflicts in belief, nobles and mages are basically two alien forces.
Therefore, it is particularly strange that this female mage who can be treated with respect by the knights of the Saint Hilde family and who is suspected of being a great noble is now particularly strange.
Knight Bliss was relieved when he saw that the female mage did not continue to ask about the whereabouts of Marquis Charles.
But after hesitating for a moment, he reminded again: "Miss Vera, you'd better stay away from this camp as soon as possible. It's... not very safe here..."
"There is no such thing as safety on the battlefield." The female mage gave the knight a strange look and said nonchalantly, "Now that I'm here, I'm ready to fight."
"No, you didn't understand what I meant." Knight Bliss emphasized slightly, "I mean, it's very dangerous here!"
The female mage's expression changed. She stared at the knight half-kneeling in front of her through the black gauze veil, and asked in a solemn voice: "Knight Bliss, what is the mission given to you by the Marquis?"
——————————
"My mission is to patrol the western camp and maintain order."
Raymond Knight said to Colin.
The two of them were walking in the east camp, which was much quieter and more solemn than the messy west camp.
However, it was a little too quiet.
Colin frowned, looking at the situation in the camp, his uneasiness became more serious.
"Only patrolling and maintaining order? Didn't you let you go on guard duty around the area?"
"No." Raymond shook his head, obviously having the same doubts, "Not just our team, I haven't seen any cavalry team disperse to serve as sentries."
Colin's frown deepened.
The importance of vision in war is self-evident.
But now, the camp stationed by Jing Lake has simply given up on inquiring into the surrounding situation.
This is simply tactical suicide!
Apart from the possibility that Marquis Charles was an idiot commander, it only shows that the importance of this camp is very low.
Or, this is simply a bait!
"I'm afraid the main force of the army is no longer in the camp." Colin looked at the too quiet east side camp and asked Raymond.
"Yes, Master. There have been troops leaving the camp these days, but they have not come back."
"So, the main force of the regular army has quietly left long ago. Now there are only the mercenary regiments and civilians who were recruited by the emergency recruitment order. Of course, there are also the down-and-out knights like you who have lost their lord."
"Yes, our real mission is to keep an eye on those soldiers and prevent them from running around."
"It looks like..." Colin was mid-sentence when he saw a group of cavalry coming out of the center of the camp.
The one riding the white horse at the head turned out to be a woman.
Moreover, Colin recognized the knight immediately behind her. He was the one who issued the emergency recruitment order for the Fire Fox Mercenary Group.
This is a big shot!
Colin, who had realized that he was in danger, immediately walked over.
Since Marquis Charles cannot be found, finding the big shot in front of him should save him from the fate of becoming cannon fodder.
However, before Colin could take a few steps, he was frightened by the piercing sound of bugles and his heart tightened.
"Woo——"
Colin suddenly turned his head and saw a flock of birds startling in the woods to the north.
Then, amid the tremors of the earth, a thin line of black and white appeared on the horizon.
The trolls are coming!
Like water droplets dripping into a boiling oil pan, the entire Jinghu camp immediately began to boil.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
"Don't run around! Line up! Line up to meet the enemy!"
…
The shouts of the officers had no effect at all. The ragtag group gathered in the camp on the west side was completely thrown into chaos by the sudden fright.
This is the consequence of not riding on guard. When the enemy attacks, there is simply not enough time to react.
In fact, even if there is enough reaction time, it is impossible for the group of soldiers in this camp who were urgently recruited to resist the regular troll army.
Colin knew very well that what followed would definitely be a one-sided massacre!
So, he pointed at the woman who was running eastward in a hurry, and said to Raymond in a deep voice:
"Let's go, let's follow her!"