Baron Church led a group of people inside.
Black Pine Castle was a small castle, a typical noble's castle with all the necessary features.
The castle was built on a cliff, surrounded by precipices on three sides, with only one side leading to the territory. The castle was fortified with stone walls on all sides, equipped with watchtowers. Guards kept watch and patrolled daily, making any changes within the territory immediately apparent.
In the past, the Marichadon family also owned such a castle.
The sight of this quaint castle brought the same thought to both Leider and Paul.
"Mr. Ivan, look over there at the stables, inside is my lion mane horse, a very beautiful one named Fenna," Lisa said, accompanying Ivan and making no attempt to hide her disposition.
However, with Baron Church present, she dared not make any more disrespectful gestures.
Ivan responded vaguely, and soon he noticed a direct hostility aimed at him, causing him to look over and see a 'pig-headed person' dressed in the livery of the territory's guards.
Lisa noticed his action and whispered, "That's Marshall, the loyal captain of the guard of the territory, who unfortunately was injured while bravely fighting against a wild beast and has not yet fully recovered."
A hint of sadness appeared on her face, sorry about the injury of the brave captain of the guard.
Upon hearing her words, Ivan speculated internally.
How could a fight with a porcupine injure the face? It was clear he was seriously poisoned, causing his face to swell heavily like a pig's head. He looked around and noticed that more than one guard bore similar injuries, but none were as swollen as Marshall.
It must have been Marshall's bad luck to encounter a special porcupine, whose quills might have recently brushed against some toxin, possibly from wild poisonous fruit or venom similar to that of a venomous snake.
What an unlucky fellow!
He wasn't intimidated by the captain of the guard at all, as Beaman had mentioned before, there was only one knight in the entire Black Pine Forest, who appeared to be the cumbersome-looking Baron Church.
In the castle, there was a special area for entertaining guests. Baron Church took the captain of the guard, Leider, and Deputy Leader Glowe to the inner hall to strategize, while the others rested and had snacks under the steward's hospitality.
In the evening, under the cordial invitation of Baron Church, the Marichadon family stayed overnight in the castle, while the other mercenaries stayed in nearby homes under Glowe's leadership.
The next day, the weather was bright and the air was clear.
The mercenaries, fully armed, carrying shields, ventured into the forest to search for the porcupine herd.
Ivan was in the group, also holding a wooden shield made of Star Iron Wood covered with iron, the shield was not light, but it wasn't difficult for him to carry with his current strength.
In addition to the shield, he had a Quillen Sword at his waist, a small axe on the other side, a bow and arrow with a quiver on his back, and a hand crossbow tied to his arm. He was fully equipped for combat.
Beaman weighed the shield and asked his brother Ivan, "Can you use it?"
"I've never used one."
Ivan had even learned some axe techniques, including throwing axes, but had never wielded a shield before.
Beaman was not surprised by this and directly started teaching Ivan.
According to their father's plan, Beaman was supposed to gradually teach some techniques to Ivan, so that he could join the others on tasks. However, he had grown too quickly, resulting in the current situation.
The two of them, one teaching and one learning, were enjoying themselves.
To the other mercenaries, this appeared to be unserious behavior, and many whispered that the group leader's third young master was really here to drag them down. Soon someone would surely need to protect him, which was no small nuisance.
"Hurry up, haven't you had enough to eat?"
At the front of the troop, leading the way, Marshall barked orders, scolding obviously his own subordinate guards, though whether he was making veiled criticisms of someone else was unknown.
Before Giant Shield Mercenary arrived, the guard squad had sent many expeditions into the forest and found numerous traces, making judgments about the whereabouts of the wild beasts tormenting the territory. This time, they followed the traces found by the guard squad.
The still-recovering captain of the guard personally took to the field, vowing to exterminate the evil wild beast in one fell swoop.
Intentionally or not, the search team began to hasten their pace.
"There will be time to learn."
Seeing this, the Ivan brothers exchanged glances and had no choice but to give up.
They were in the Church family's Black Pine Forest, where towering pines thrived abundantly, occupying a large area. Operated for decades, this place produced pine nuts, resin, matsutake, truffles, and other mushrooms, and also provided hunting for furs, making it an important asset for the Church family.
Now, one could occasionally see black pine trees fallen on the ground and others about to topple over with their roots dug out, no wonder Baron Church was very agitated.
The group passed through the Black Pine Forest and arrived at another dense forest on the mountainside; this place was the edge of the 'Black Fog Forest,' which was hundreds of times larger than the Black Pine Forest and bordered three countries, it was said.
Black Fog Forest was a paradise for wild beasts, and everyone's expressions grew more vigilant.
"Swish."
A soft whistle of an arrow, already embedded in a tree trunk.
Those nearby looked over to see a red and black striped thin snake on the arrow, clearly a poisonous snake; fortunately, there was a mercenary standing right below it, who gratefully gazed at Glowe as he retracted his strong bow.
"Incredible, the deputy leader's eyesight and archery are as formidable as ever."
"Naturally, always hits the mark, haven't heard of Mr. Glowe missing ever."
Glowe and the thin snake were separated by four or five people, a feat that dazzled many and elicited several expressions of admiration.
Ivan looked at the palm-sized poisonous snake and couldn't help but admire Glowe's archery; this was probably a form of outstanding talent, no wonder he could firmly hold the position of deputy leader even as a squire.
The jungle path was difficult to navigate, requiring vigilance against dangerous attacks, and thus the team moved slowly.
As time gradually moved into the afternoon, Marshall, who had been boasting in the morning, was now in a miserable state. He had led a group traipsing through the jungle for most of the day, only to come up empty.
His confident prediction was nothing but a joke.
After searching the vicinity for a long time and seeing that time was almost up, they decided to return first and make further plans. No one wanted to stay overnight in the Black Fog Forest; the night belonged to wild beasts and monsters, and one careless move could spell disaster for all.
There were no roads in the dense forest, so there was no talk of returning the same way they came; the return journey was equally slow.
Someone suggested, "Did you notice that the temperature dropped quite a bit?"
"There's fog, everyone quicken your pace."
The speaker was Leider, he was the only knight in the team and the strongest. His words left no room for doubt among the others.
Soon, a thin layer of fog had formed, becoming distinctly visible.
"Quick!" Seeing the fog like smoke, Marshall felt a strong sense of urgency. As a local and the captain of the guard, no one knew the terror of the Black Fog Forest at night better than he. "Everybody, follow me quickly, let's not delay any longer."
This time he was more proactive than in the morning, leading the way and speeding up the return with everyone following.
As time passed, the fog thickened, obscuring the view several meters ahead, and the group continued to hasten their march.
At a certain moment, Marshall suddenly stopped, standing there, reluctant to take another step.
"Captain, why aren't we moving?"
Faced with his subordinate's question and the astonished and puzzled looks from everyone, Marshall showed a face that was almost crying and said softly, "We took the wrong path, the direction is not right, we should—we must be lost."