Being a knight is not easy

Chapter 291 Death
When Sylvain and his men arrived at the stronghold, they found Robin cleaning up the battlefield, collecting the family crests of the fallen soldiers, and neatly arranging some of the armor and weapons.

Robin's actions were methodical. He knew that these family crests and equipment held special significance for those noble families. Although he was somewhat reluctant, he understood that if he were to keep them for himself, it would surely bring disaster upon himself.

He couldn't keep the weapons and equipment engraved with the family mark and emblem to himself, so he could only return them to Sylvain with a look of regret, so that he could hand them over to the family that originally owned them.

Robin looked at the excellent equipment and sighed inwardly. If he could leave these things to his slave soldiers, they would greatly enhance their combat power.

Sylvain looked at Robin's group with great surprise.

He originally thought that Robin's slave soldiers would only be a hindrance on the battlefield, but he didn't expect them to arrive at the stronghold so quickly and do these things.

"You guys are quick!" Sylvain's voice carried a hint of surprise.

Robin shook his head, his face full of regret: "We had just discovered a large number of cavalry on the border when the Western Rangers attacked. By the time we arrived, the entire outpost was deserted."

Robin's expression was very realistic, as if he truly regretted not being able to save the soldiers at the outpost.

Sylvain frowned, his opinion of Robin shifting somewhat. He looked at Robin and said slowly, "It's quite impressive that you arrived so quickly and were able to clean up the battlefield. The Rangers' surprise attack was indeed difficult to defend against, and the losses this time were significant."

Robin sighed and said, "We wanted to help, but those Rangers were just too powerful. When we arrived, all we saw was devastation. However, we found some Ranger tracks around here, so maybe we can follow them to find where they went."

Sylvain's eyes lit up when he heard Robin's words: "Really? If we can find the Rangers' whereabouts, we can launch a counterattack and make up for this loss."

Robin chuckled inwardly. He knew Ironjaw's plan and that if Sylvain followed this lead, he might fall into Ironjaw's trap again. But on the surface, he still said sincerely, "We're not entirely sure either, but we can give it a try."

Sylvain thought for a moment, then said to Robin, "Take some men and come with me to track down the Rangers. The rest of you stay here and guard the outpost."

Robin's heart skipped a beat; he knew this was an opportunity, a chance for his slave soldiers to further impress Sylvain. He immediately replied, "Yes, sir. I will select some men to go with you."

Robin turned back to his own men and selected some of the more astute slave soldiers, including William and Nuy. He whispered to them, "Brothers, this is our chance. Be smart, everyone. Following Lord Sylvain, we might learn a lot."

The slave soldiers all nodded; they knew that Robin's arrangement must have its reasons.

So Robin, with his chosen slave soldiers, followed Sylvain on the road to track down the Rangers.

Following the trail, they indeed found what appeared to be the Rangers. Sylvain's face had just shown a hint of excitement, as if he could already see himself successfully counterattacking the Rangers and salvaging his reputation and losses.

Robin frowned, looking at the marks on the ground, and slowly said, "From here, two more cavalry units will arrive to join us."

His voice was calm, yet it struck Sylvain's heart like a heavy hammer.

Sylvain's smile vanished quickly, replaced by worry and wariness. He asked cautiously, "We haven't been discovered, have we?"

His eyes were fixed on Robin, hoping to get a negative answer from him. Robin sneered inwardly; he knew this was all a trap set by Ironjaw, and Sylvain was walking into it step by step. But outwardly, he solemnly declared that nothing had happened. He said, "Sir, we have been very careful and should not have been discovered. However, these rangers are very cunning, so we should be careful."

Sylvain quickly led Robin and the others to retreat. He didn't want to be surrounded by three Ranger squads; that would be suicide.

As he retreated, he pondered what to do next.

He couldn't handle just one Ranger unit, let alone three. This time he brought elite troops, which means there aren't many of them.

Sylvain knew that although his elite soldiers were very strong, they would have little chance of winning against a number of Rangers.

Robin followed behind Sylvan, but he had his own plans. He knew that Ironjaw's goal was to continuously weaken Sylvan's power, while he himself wanted to use this process to train the slave soldiers and gain more benefits.

Robin whispered to the slave soldiers around him, "Brothers, we must be vigilant. This is a dangerous situation, but it is also an opportunity."

The slave soldiers didn't quite understand Robin's words, but they still looked at Robin with trust and nodded silently.

Sylvain led his troops back to the fortress quickly, deciding to readjust the strategy and strengthen the fortress's defenses.

He realized that he could no longer launch an attack lightly against such powerful Rangers; he had to first solidify his defenses and then look for an opportunity to counterattack.

Therefore, simple outposts are insufficient to withstand the Rangers' attack, but they cannot be left undefended.

After careful consideration, Sylvain decided that it would be best to transfer all the elite troops back to the area surrounding the fortress for defense.

In his view, the elite troops were his trump card, the core force for defending the fortress, and should not be easily lost in those simple outposts on the front line.

All the slave troops were transferred to the most dangerous areas on the front lines to build outposts.

Sylvain felt that although the slave soldiers were relatively weak in combat, they were still feasible to use for building outposts and serving as early warning units, and even if they suffered some losses, it would not make him feel as bad as the elite troops.

Sylvain's order enraged many of the slave troops.

The slave soldiers already suffered many unfair treatments because of their lowly status, and now they were being used as cannon fodder and pushed into the most dangerous areas. Their hearts were filled with resentment and anger.

Most of the slave soldiers had no choice; they could only silently endure the arrangements made by the nobles.

However, most of those slave officers were knights, and they had their own pride and honor.

How could they not be furious at such a suicidal act? They had trained hard, striving to improve their skills, hoping to make a difference on the battlefield, but they never expected to be so disregarded by Sylvain.

(End of this chapter)