Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

Suddenly, a stray arrow shot out from a completely blind spot, heading straight for Angelita!

Hearing the wind, the girl instinctively tried to hide behind the carriage, but Raslaufer was three points faster than her. A large hand suddenly reached out from behind Angelita and punched the sneak attacking arrow to the ground!

"Are you all blind?!" The mercenary's shout immediately echoed throughout the village. He raised his greatsword and pointed it precisely at the cover where the archer was hiding. "I think you're all tired of living. Get out here!"

His icy blue eyes were as cold and indifferent as those of death.

"Those inside the house, those on the roof, and those four hiding in the well! Dare to point those broken tree branches at me again and see what happens?!"

Chapter 306 Swift Arrow Mercenary Group

The mercenaries whose hiding place had been exposed by Raslaufer reluctantly came out, but they still refused to put down their weapons. The three crossbowmen who climbed out of the house through the window and the crossbowmen who were lying on the roof still held their crossbows cocked. The one in the well also held his dagger in his hand.

Several crossbowmen appeared relatively clean, but the last one was a different story. A long, red and black mass was wrapped limply around his neck and waist. Only by squinting and looking closely could one make out that it was probably someone's intestines.

"You are—" a crossbowman began to ask, his crossbow empty; the arrow that had just been fired must have been his doing. But before he could finish speaking, Raslaufer had already leaped forward and punched him to the ground.

"I can go to you!"

"Stop!" "Drop your weapons!" The sudden attack stunned the mercenary who had asked the question. The others quickly raised their weapons at Reslaufer, but this was more of a provocation than a threat to him.

A crossbow twanged from the rooftop, but it missed Reslaufer completely. The man grabbed the mercenary at his feet and slammed him against the wall of the house like a battering ram. The village walls couldn't withstand Reslaufer's force and collapsed instantly, turning into dust and rubble. Before the crossbowman could even get up, he was thrown into the air and tumbled into a heap with the third crossbowman who had just adjusted his stance.

"Who exactly are you?!"

Such a sudden and swift attack not only shattered the bodies of the three crossbowmen but also destroyed the spirit of the remaining one. This young woman, who looked bloody and violent, helplessly waved her dagger, trying to stop Leslaufer from getting closer—although, even just looking at the type of armor she wore and the greatsword she was carrying, it was clear that she had no chance of defeating her opponent.

"We're from 'Swift Arrow'! Our boss is nearby! If you dare touch me, Boss J won't let you get away with it!" Her shrill, almost distorted voice continued to blare. "I'm his woman!"

However, these words had no effect on Raslaufer. He stood still in front of the woman, shaking his head with a "tsk tsk" sound.

"Judging from your appearance, you've hired crossbowmen? Swift Arrow? Boss J? Never even heard of them."

"You'd be more like a 'spiral bird' if you said that."

The woman's pupils contracted slightly. The 'Spiralbirds' that Raslaufer mentioned had the best mercenary crossbowmen in Inasas, earning a fifth more gold coins than their counterparts. However, their second-in-command and a number of skilled men had been killed in battle a few years ago, crippling the mercenary group somewhat—but even so, they were still far beyond the reach of small fry like themselves.

“If you bring up the boss of the Spiralbirds, I’ll say I can earn twice as much gold as him,” Leslaufer sneered. “As for you, four times? Five times?”

"Where is your boss now? Take us there."

Having said that, Raslaufer stopped talking nonsense, grabbed the female crossbowman by the hair, and dragged her to the ground. The latter subconsciously tried to swing her knife to fight back, but after Raslaufer stomped on her, her entire arm was almost numb after the excruciating pain.

This man... there's absolutely no way the boss could beat him! The woman gave a bitter laugh, but their leader was on the other side of the village, so what difference would it make whether she spoke or not?

"It's...it's over there," she weakly pointed, "Please, have mercy—"

Before the woman could finish speaking, her intestines tightened around her neck, and no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't escape. In just a short while, she was strangled to death.

“There’s another one over there pretending to be dead,” Leslaufer said, tossing down the corpse with its long tongue sticking out, and pointing to the two that had been rolling around in a heap. “Let him pretend to be dead and then make him really dead.”

Upon hearing this, the crossbowman hurriedly pushed aside the severed neck of his fallen comrade, but how far could he possibly run with so many eyes watching? Just a few steps later, a dagger pierced through the air, embedding itself in the leather armor at his back. The mercenary only had time to scream before collapsing to the ground.

“Not bad,” Leslaufer raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at Mary who was still in a throwing stance. “I thought you were only good at picking locks and doing some sneaky things.”

“Attacking from behind is one of them, Your Excellency,” Mary smiled, walked over and gave the crossbowman another blow to the side of his neck before pulling out the dagger stuck in his back. “But these are just small tricks. I’m still trying my best not to drag His Highness and you down.”

“It depends on the situation,” Angelita shook her head slightly. “Even Uncle Leslaufer has to do his best to deal with those witches, so he naturally can’t protect us. And with these people now, even if you wanted to sabotage your uncle, it would be difficult, right?”

“They’re just a bunch of crossbowmen, and not even from the Empire,” Leslaufer searched the well where the female crossbowman had been hiding and found the crossbow she was using. “The earliest archers in Inath were mainly slingshots and bows and arrows. Later, the Empire’s highland crossbowmen made a name for themselves, and they started to imitate them. But they only learned a little bit. Apart from the Spiral Bird I mentioned, the other Inath mercenary crossbowmen are just so-so.”

"The most worthwhile thing about hiring them is not these crossbows."

Angelita walked over curiously and picked one up, but after examining it briefly, she simply shook her head and tossed it onto the cart. If there was anything special about these crossbows, it was that they had an extra loading slot compared to those used by Imperial crossbowmen, allowing them to fire twice in quick succession without reloading.

In Angelita's opinion, this had some value, but not much. She guessed that Reslaufer probably thought the same thing.

The noise Raslaufer made when he smashed a house was considerable; logically, that Boss J should have arrived by now, but they couldn't find him anywhere. Having suffered such a cold reception, Raslaufer naturally wasn't going to swallow his anger. Following the direction the female crossbowman had pointed before her death, the group quickly headed towards the other side of the village.

Before they could even see the crossbowmen, they heard a cacophony of shouts and commotion. This was probably why they hadn't noticed the noise from the other side of the village. When they turned the corner, they saw a hundred or so people gathered in three layers between several houses, with people cheering and shouting from time to time.

"Is it tight? Is it tight? If it's tight, it means there's someone hiding nearby! Are you even capable? Let me take your turn!"

Chapter 307 Why Not Wear a Hat

"This is……?"

What does "tightening up indicates Tibetans" mean?

Before the group could get close enough to see the situation in the crowd, not only were Angelita and Bella stunned by the incomprehensible howls, but even von Dahl's face beneath his beard and hair was contorted with confusion.

Instead, the bard stared wide-eyed at Leslaufer and stammered, "Th-that...they shouldn't be...they shouldn't be doing the kind of thing I'm thinking of, right?"

“Take them away, there’s nothing to see.” Leslaufer sighed, patting the dwarf on the shoulder. The dwarf had lived for over two centuries; even if he didn’t understand the commotion, he at least grasped Leslaufer’s meaning. He quickly pulled Angrita and the others aside. By this point, even they understood what it was about.

“You go over there too.” Raslaw glanced at the poet and pointed to the corner of the wall.

"Huh? I was thinking of helping out or something... Okay, okay," Daisy blinked, obediently turned around, and stood perfectly still in the corner of a broken wall. "Remember to call me when it's time to see!"

Blackclaw was eager to join the attack with Raslaufer, but Doppler refused it—Blackclaw was, after all, just a beast, and probably couldn't distinguish between people to be killed and people not to be killed, especially when two or more of them might be "together".

Moreover, among those to be killed, Raslaw also planned to spare one or two.

Golems, hags, gargoyles, sorcerers—these guys have been having fun for so long, it's time to let them relax a bit.

"Hurry up! Change people, change people! Whoosh—" On the outskirts of the crowd, a guy was jumping up and down, shouting with great enthusiasm. He was quite anxious, after all, there were only about a hundred people in Jishi, and if he wasn't proactive, he would miss the first opportunity. Therefore, when a hand was placed on his head, he immediately tilted his head and pushed the hand away.

"Get lost! It's fine normally, but now there's one here, why are you still coming to me! Get lost!"

But the other person seemed quite determined; as soon as he moved the hand away, the other person pressed it back down.

"Why are you so strange—" Suddenly, he paused for a moment.

Why are these hands so cold and stiff? Like a block of iron... It looks like a gauntlet?

Those crossbowmen don't even have a use for this thing!

"No! You are—" Before the man could finish speaking, his right hand, covered by a gauntlet, suddenly exerted force, almost pressing his entire head into his chest cavity!

This sight immediately attracted attention. The mercenaries turned to look and saw a burly stranger in heavy armor wielding a giant sword nearly as tall as a man, hacking and slashing through the crowd with alternating blades!

As a rear-line unit in the battle, the crossbowmen's equipment was nowhere near that of the charging Leslaufer. The better-equipped ones wore only chainmail, while most, like the previous three, wore leather armor of varying quality, which served as their only protection. As for their weapons, aside from the hundred or so men who could muster only twenty or thirty one-handed swords, the rest were just short blades and even shorter daggers. Leslaufer tore through their ranks like a tiger among sheep.

"Die!" A bolder fellow finally approached Reslauver beside his two fallen companions, who lay sprawled like wheat, and hissed as he thrust his dagger towards the gap in the armor. He'd heard how to deal with these sturdy mortars! Just aim a sharp weapon at the gap—

Amidst the clanging of metal, the tinkling of chains also reached the crossbowman's ears. He stared in disbelief, but in the next instant, Raslaufer had already stretched out his arms, tucking half of the crossbowman's upper body under his armpits. A muffled thud followed, and when Raslaufer swung his greatsword again, only a man with a broken spine and on the verge of death remained where he had just stood.

As for the useless dagger, it was shattered into three or five pieces, as well as many smaller fragments.

Raslauver never wore more than one suit of armor. His cloak, chainmail, inner lining, and shirt together formed a complete defensive line. How could a mere small dagger possibly pry it open?

However, Raslaufer was not surprised by this behavior, because he had also told outsiders how to defeat him—archers and even shield bearers loved to hear it. And if they ever actually tried to do so, they would experience the feeling of being deceived one last time; people like Raslaufer, on the other hand, could enjoy the gifts from unknown colleagues and continue to pass on this "goodwill."

The screams, shouts, and cries of over a hundred people sang in his ears, creating a melody even more melodious than Daisy's playing. After dozens of people fell under his sword, Raslaufer closed his eyes in ecstasy. To his great surprise, although the numbers didn't match, the spirits around him began to grow again!

What are we waiting for!

"Come on, all of you!" This familiar feeling made Raslaufer laugh out loud. He hurled his greatsword with all his might, smashing the head of a crossbowman who was trying to shoot. Then he grabbed the back of another man's head with one hand and slammed it against his head!

"God...is this our retribution?" Such brutal slaughter made the surviving, or rather, temporarily alive, crossbowmen's legs go weak. "No, don't come any closer!"

"No, this is my reward!" Raslaufer grinned savagely, grabbing the mercenary who had already begun to pray and kicking him, shattering his pelvis. "Your lives are my payment!"

The third-to-last mercenary crossbowman was pinned to the ground by Raslaufer. When he appeared at the feet of the penultimate victim, his face was so disfigured that it was hard to tell whether it was just skin and flesh or mud.

In front of this man who was already paralyzed in a double sense, the tearful girl looked much younger than Angrita.

"Thank...thank you." She was pulled to the ground by the thugs behind her, but she tried her best to lift her head and speak softly.

This man could never be a savior, but after he did all that, even if he really was a devil, she had no regrets.

“Turn around, he’s yours now,” Leslaufer said, a little reluctant, but in the end she clicked her tongue and looked behind him at the guy whose pants had fallen down somewhere. “But what if you fight back? You’re all unarmed, she can’t beat you.”

"Well... not necessarily." The girl, who had been standing up unsteadily on the mercenary's back, seemed to smile. She raised her hand, holding the crossbowman's belt, the dagger inside so lightly.

Seeing this, Leslaufer stopped interfering and turned to look at the last one, the middle-aged man who hadn't made a move from the beginning. This man was dressed and equipped much better than the other crossbowmen, and the crossbow that had already been put down was engraved with gold patterns—it was unclear whether they were real gold.

"Your Excellency! Your Excellency!" Upon seeing Leslaufer looking at him, the man immediately knelt down and raised his hands. "I surrender! I have seven hundred gold coins in savings in the Central Region. If you spare my life, they are all yours!"

“Pretty smart. If you said you had it now, you'd die now,” Raslaw nodded, stepped forward, and looked down at the cowardly man who didn’t even dare to raise his head. “Boss J?”

“Jack, just call me Jack, they’re all just making things up,” the man quickly clarified. Although he was looking down, Leslaufer could guess the smile on his face. “You’re from the East, aren’t you? I have quite a few friends in the East, no, elders, maybe they’re your friends.”

"Everything here today is a misunderstanding. You can surely understand the predicament of people like us: the brothers have honored me by sitting in this position, and they want to have some fun, so how could I refuse..."

“I don’t need you to explain these rules to me,” Leslaufer said, lifting the other man’s chin and straightening his face, which appeared respectful but was actually filled with extreme fear. “I just want to ask you.”

"Huh?" Jack was stunned; he didn't understand what the Grim Reaper meant. Leslaufer, however, didn't care. His right arm, enhanced by demonic power, rose high and then fell, and a sphere rolled to the side of a pair of trousers.

Why aren't you wearing a hat?

Chapter 308 The Rescued Girl

When Raslaufer put down the headless corpse, which was just like the dog in the shepherd's arms at the village entrance, the screams behind him continued unabated.

Although the young girl looked like someone from the West, her demeanor was quite "simple" like that of someone from the North. The mercenary, however, was now completely skinned alive, with not a single piece of flesh left on his body, yet he was still alive and conscious. His skeletal arms hung limply at his sides, having long since lost the ability to resist or refuse.

“That’s enough,” Dobul licked the blood splattered on his lips. “Stop.”

"Stop...?"

The girl's body stiffened abruptly, her neck slowly turning like a stuck gear as she looked at Leslaufer, who had walked to her side: "They...didn't do that...why did they...?"

“Because you’ll really kill him, and that would be the end of it all,” Leslaufer stepped forward, reached out and grabbed the girl’s trembling hand with irresistible force, indirectly grasping the dagger. “Give it to me, let me take his soul away.”

Raslaufer gave her no chance to refuse, and the dagger, already dulled from improper use and excessive force, pierced the crossbowman's chest with the combined efforts of the two men.

"No, no! The devil—the demon!"

Under the watchful eyes of both, the victim did not pass away peacefully. However, when Raslaufer closed her eyes slightly, she saw a similar situation to Angreta's.

A ghost, the ghost of the abuser, stood alone beside the girl, numb and unconscious, without even wearing pants.

“Well, it seems I can’t take his soul with me—don’t worry, you can see him repeatedly in your dreams,” Leslaufer said, withdrawing his hand and smiling slightly at the girl. “I’m not sure if this will make things better or worse for you, but I don’t care.”

"Me too." When her enemy's corpse lay completely, utterly, and lifelessly on its back, the girl seemed to have lost all her strength. She knelt there, exhausted, panting heavily.

“You’d better be different,” Raslaufer said, turning to leave but stopping again when he saw the group still being restrained by von Dahl and not turning around. “My companions are about to turn around, so you’d better get ready and not make things too ugly.”

He himself was, of course, completely unconcerned, but several of his aristocratic friends and a dwarf probably wouldn't like the scene, and Bella didn't belong to the druidic sects that advocated going naked. As for Daisy… that eccentric poet, always spouting nonsense, was actually not much different from the others.

The girl hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded slowly and went into the house, which seemed to be her home.

The bodies of an old man, two middle-aged men, and many more young men and teenagers were scattered about, their identities self-evident. The middle-aged man among them had short blond hair and was as strong as a bear, yet at this moment he showed no warmth compared to the other family members. However, even after the girl reappeared dressed in clothes that didn't belong to her, Raslaufer did not see another, possibly even younger, child.

“Is that your father? He doesn’t look like a Westerner,” Leslaufer said casually, leading the girl to the others. “Turn around, it’s all settled.”

“You shouldn’t have done this. We can’t handle as much as you think… This girl?!” Bella turned around. Even without looking, she could guess what had happened just by listening.

The druid initially thought her imagination was bad enough, but when she saw the girl in person, she immediately realized that she was still too naive.

"Are any of those people still alive?" Bella's tone didn't sound like that of a follower of Adas at all.

“If you don’t trust him about this kind of thing, then no one is trustworthy,” von Dahl shrugged. “Don’t worry, look at those few human-shaped things on the ground.”

The situation after Raslaufer took action hardly needs checking—if any lucky one can survive with these kinds of bodies, then let him live.

"But what about this girl? To be honest, although our team never seems to lack children, they always have somewhere to go, she..."

Even if there were other living people in the village, the dwarves would not agree to let the little guy stay here any longer.

“My father is an Ampieri,” the girl said softly, bathed in Bella’s healing magical light, glancing at Leslaufer, thus answering both questions at once. “He has a sister who went to the east, while my father met my mother in the west.”

Leslaufer nodded and explained to Angelita, who might not know much about this, "The Ampire have a long tradition of raiding the coast by boat. Some older warriors, no longer accepted by the tribe, would take this opportunity to go ashore somewhere and earn some honor for themselves."

"Most of them find it difficult to settle down, but some have found reasons to let go of the past and start a new life."

It's hard to say whether this is the "fate" believed by the Ampiri people, as most of these old warriors will be caught up by the past.

"Your aunt is in the east? That's perfect, I'm heading east. Do you know her surname now? If she didn't take her husband's surname, it'll be easier to find her; Ampiry surnames are generally easy to identify." Vondar nodded.

This task was naturally not to be done by Leslaufer. Since von Dahl was so concerned about the girl's future life, the dwarves were naturally responsible for her placement.

“I…I don’t know that much,” the girl shook her head. “My father and aunt rarely see each other. I only hear them often say that my aunt has a bad life.”

"They initially invited our family to the wedding, but it was canceled for some reason. When we heard from them again, she had married someone else. Then, a few years later, they wrote to say that my uncle had also passed away, and she had become a widow."

“That’s nothing new. East Inassus can be broadly divided into two types of people: officers and soldiers.” Knowing his own people best, Leslaufer was no stranger to this kind of thing.

"So, if she changes her surname back, it should be the same as our family's, Fitzgivar (Kivar or son of Val)."

This was a very unfamiliar and distant surname for most of the people present, with no special meaning—except for one person.