When Brian woke up, the first thing he saw was the off-white ceiling.
The dazzling sunlight shone through the window. Brian slightly closed his eyes and opened them again, but the glare of the sun remained unchanged.
[It's not a dream,] Brian thought, [I'm... still alive?] He tried to move his body but found that all he could do was to wag his fingers a little bit. Brian felt as if all his strength was drained.
Then Brain heard someone call out. "He has awoken. Report to His Highness immediately."
[His Highness?] Brain felt his mind was in such a muddle that it was much duller than usual. [By the way, how did I faint?] Brian could vaguely remember that Viper pierced through his chest. He felt so close to death, but a ghostly woman showed up at the very end and defeated all the enemies in an inconceivable way.
Very soon, there came maids who assisted him to lean against the bed. Another maid brought a basin of water to clean his feet. Brian apparently had never experienced such a thorough service, plus, they were all young maids, which made him felt quite helpless.
Fortunately, such awkwardness did not last too long. When Prince Roland walked into the room, everyone bowed.
Brian sensed his fervent heart pumping in his chest. Brian had too much to ask, but when he opened his mouth, he did not know where to begin. Instead, Roland nodded and said, "I've heard about your contributions, Brian. You're the well-deserved hero."
Once the word "hero" was said, Brian felt a sourness in his eyes, and his voice even started to choke. "No... Your Highness, my mate is the real..."
Roland patted Brian on the shoulder to comfort him.
Just like Nightingale's speculations, Fierce Scar divulged everything as soon as he was dragged into the interrogation room. The prison warden did not even need to work him over.
The chief plotter of this group was not Roland's siblings. Instead, it was the Elk Family from Longsong Stronghold. Earl of the Elk Family contacted his distant relative Kihls Medde, which was Fierce Scar, and controlled a majority of the patrol team through enticement and segregation. Besides that, the earl also replaced one of his elites into the patrol team as the insurance to prevent any accidents in his plan. The purpose of these people was not to kill Roland but to burn all the storage food so that Roland would have to return to Longsong Stronghold.
This conspiracy caused the death of an innocent member—Greyhound. He tried to stop the criminal plan of Fierce Scar's group, but he was killed by a patrol team member with a dagger. The whereabouts of patrol team member, which Viper replaced, was unclear. He probably escaped after he noticed that their scheme had failed since the castle did not catch fire and Fierce Scar did not promptly return either.
Roland waited until Brian calmed his emotions and said, "Your friend Greyhound will receive a decent funeral. His family will also be properly taken care of so that his family shall not worry about food anymore."
"Thank you, Your Highness." Brian took a deep breath. "May I ask... whether Fierce Scar is dead?
"He's still alive for now."
The patrol leader closed his eyes in agony. He would rather drag Fierce Scar into hell with him than be saved alone. His hope, however, had become almost impossible... Undoubtedly, Fierce Scar was guilty, but a crime by the noble could be lessened with monetary exchanges.
Roland certainly noticed Brian's thoughts. "Kihls Medde, or Fierce Scar in your tongue, is a member of the Elk Family from Longsong Stronghold. The family is in the charge of Luke Medde, an earl anointed by Duke Ryan and also Fierce Scar's distant uncle..." Roland paused for a moment. "But all of these shall not affect the final jurisdiction, and Fierce Scare has been sentenced to death by hanging. He'll be executed in three days. If you're recovered by that time, you could probably take a look."
Brian suddenly opened his eyes wide. "But, but Your Highness, the noble could be atoned with gold royals. Your jurisdiction will probably infuriate the..."
Roland waved his hands, and gestured Brian to compose himself. "The noble? Perhaps for you guys, Fierce Scar who was born in the Elk Family hold the social status that was distinctly different from yours. But in fact, he's hardly a noble, for he has neither title nor lands. Besides, even if he's a noble, there's no way to spare his life for what he has done—intruding the quarter of the prince, attempting to burn down the grains and disregarding the life of over 2,000 people living in Border Town."
Roland had a bit of hesitation when he ordered death sentence to Tyre, but Fierce Scar will definitely not be excused from his wrongdoings. If Fierce Scar's plan had succeeded, Roland's foundation in Border Town would be destroyed. Roland would have no chance to turn the situation around. This was even more abominable than killing Roland.
Would his jurisdiction infuriate Longsong Stronghold? Who cared?! Since the earl was unwilling to have peaceful business transactions with Roland and decided to harm Border Town, Roland would not give in for sure. This assassination attempt also gave Roland a warning—the political struggles in this world were far different from that of Roland's former world. In Roland's former world, the political leaders preferred to keep the fights in the shade. In this world, people were more inclined to confront one another.
"Rest well. You lost too much blood, so you'd better not leave the castle." I've assigned your work in the patrol team to someone else. I'll hold the canonization ceremony for you after the Months of Demons ends.
"Your Highness." After hearing the last sentence, Brian looked at the prince incredulously. "You mean..."
"Yes, you'll be my knight, Mr. Brian," Roland answered with a smile.
*******************
"Ready, stab!"
Van'er thrust out his long wooden pole, using the same strength from last time and also a similar angle.
This was the 100th time that he thrust out his wooden pole.
His arms turning sore, Van'er thought that he would not be able to stand such exercise anymore. Even though he already felt like that when he thrust out his weapon for the 50th time, but the conditioned reflex after a week's training made him obey the order. Van'er himself was surprised that he was able to go this far.
"Everyone, rest!"
The moment when Iron Axe called out the instruction, he heard heavy breathing from all around him. Van'er was relieved too. He put down his pole and slumped down onto the ground.
Until now, Van'er finally understood that the Militia to which he belonged was not an insignificant troop that was only responsible for running errands for soldiers or knights. After a week's peculiar training, their training mission became more and more official. Like now, they were standing upon the city wall thrusting out and withdrawing their spears—although these spears were replaced with wooden poles, Van'er soon understood his role and responsibility in his troop.
Logistics team would never do such training. This means that Van'er and the other members would actually confront and fight against the demonic beasts on the city wall. It was such a frightening thought. Van'er originally planned to sneak away, but after seeing the other members who went through the same training with him, and also thinking about the palatable meals and lucrative salary, Van'er could not make the decision.
