I, Guinevere, am going to crush you, you curry stick, today!

For the next thirty years, this lonely king lived a nomadic life, constantly on the move.

When the Saxons landed from the east and launched a large-scale invasion, he briefly joined his brother Alan's forces to help him resist the invaders. Unfortunately, they were ultimately defeated, and Alan was killed. Perinoa fought desperately on the battlefield to retrieve his brother's body. After burying him, he wandered around, sometimes helping people drive away ferocious beasts, and sometimes visiting famous knights to challenge them to duels. In a way, this kind of life could be considered carefree and unrestrained.

Because of his decisive act of abandoning the islands to allow his people to take refuge, Perinoa has gained considerable fame and a positive image in Britain and even across the sea in France.

Thinking of this, Guinevere looked at the old man with a newfound admiration.

"So it was you."

If she had harbored some distrust before, after learning that the old man was the "former King of the Islands," she was no longer worried that he would make any excessive demands.

“It seems that the sinking of those few dilapidated islands back then had some benefits. At least my old face is much more useful than other old guys’ faces—” Perinoa shook his head and laughed, “Since you know about Perez’s disappearance, I don’t need to go on and on. Simply put, I need to find him, but I don’t know where that old guy is right now, so I need a little bit of skill.”

He gestured a very short distance with his finger, waved it in front of their eyes, and continued, "Have you ever heard of the Water-Seeking Beast?"

Lily shook her head.

Guinevere had heard of it, but only in the Arthurian legends of her past life, as the monster Perinoa relentlessly pursued. She knew little about the real-life Water-Seeker in this world. She shook her head, and just as the old man was about to explain, another voice suddenly broke in from afar.

"I know--"

"Ok?"

Following the sound, what appeared in their field of vision was an unexpected person.

"What? It's you? And the two of you too..."

Perinoa raised an eyebrow, a look of surprise on his face.

Walking at the front were Percival and Nemia, who was holding one of their hands. When the little girl saw the two of them, her previously sullen expression immediately brightened. She smiled brightly and waved vigorously. Lily also waved back, but her gaze went past the two of them and looked further back.

The answer just now did not come from either of these two people.

"Your target is indeed the Water-Seeking Beast."

Humberts and another young man named Stouti, one in front and one behind, carried the young man lying on a stretcher and followed Percival toward them. For some reason, the former's left cheek was swollen high, and he could barely open one eye. It was the young man on the stretcher who spoke. He struggled to sit up and looked at the old man: "I can smell it."

Perinoa looked at him thoughtfully, without saying a word.

The young man, whose stomach was wrapped in several strips of cloth and who looked listless, tried to straighten his back. Although he was clearly afraid, he still looked directly into the old man's eyes: "Miss Fina and Miss Lily are very strong, but if you want to capture the Water-Seeking Beast, I'm afraid the two of them won't be of much help."

"Oh...so what?"

“Miss Fina saved my life, and my dad always says, ‘You can forgive a grudge, but you can’t forget a favor, otherwise you’re no different from a pig or a dog.’ The three of us will help you find the Water-Seeking Beast, and then the score between you and Miss Fina will be settled.”

After saying this, the old man fell silent for a moment.

He asked, "Kid, what's your name?"

"Henvas".

The young man answered.

"it is good!"

Perinoa nodded, then suddenly reached out and, without anyone knowing how he did it, pulled the longsword from Lily's waist. It wasn't until she heard a "clang" that the girl in the white dress reacted, covering her empty scabbard with shock in her eyes.

The old man simply hissed, "Boy, bow your head!"

The roar was like a muffled thunderclap, making the ears of the people present ring. Henvas, who was directly targeted, had his mind go blank and obediently lowered his head as instructed.

But then Perinoa raised his longsword and, with a resounding thud, struck the young man three times on the shoulder with the back of the blade, nearly knocking him off the stretcher. The two men carrying the stretcher were startled. Humberts, standing slightly ahead, staggered and stepped in front of his brother, shouting, "What are you doing!" He was so shocked and angry that he even forgot his title of "knight."

But then he remembered the meaning behind his action, and for a moment, he was stunned.

To strike someone's neck or shoulder several times with the back of a sword... if he remembers correctly, that's...

"Kid, I find you quite pleasing to the eye." He was still stunned, but Perinoa seemed to have lost his patience, casually shoving him aside and pointing at Henvas with his finger: "From today onwards, you are the King of the Islands, a knight under Perinoa's command. How about it, this title shouldn't be too shameful, right?"

"……what?"

The young man being pointed at was clearly still in a daze, and responded blankly.

The old man frowned: "I'll count to three. If you want to refuse, speak up now. If you regret it after I finish counting, I'll chop your head off with my sword. One, two—"

"I, I do!"

The two words had barely left his lips when the young man who had remained silent suddenly pinched Henwas's arm hard, jolting him back to his senses and causing him to nod frantically.

"Alright, it's settled then!" Perinoa laughed twice, waved his hand, and returned the sword to Lily. Seeing the girl take it with both hands, he added, "Sorry, my sword is still over there in the tent. I just borrowed yours. Don't worry about it. As for you, kid, although you're a bit shabby now, you still have a nose and eyes, and everything else is still there. Not bad! Do you have your own armor?"

Not only the young man being asked the question, but even Guinevere standing next to him couldn't help but twitch her lips upon hearing it. What a question! Who in an ordinary family could afford a whole set of tin cans...? Henvas shook his head, as expected.

The old man didn't mind and waved his hand, saying, "Then I'll get you another set of armor whenever I have time."

"Okay...okay?"

The young man answered blankly.

Perinoa nodded and asked, "Is this a good thing?"

"Yes...yes."

"Then why aren't you smiling?"

"Ah... Ah ha, hahahahaha..."

"That's more like it! People should cry when they need to cry, and laugh when they need to laugh, hahaha!"

"Hahaha……"

"Hahahaha!"

Hearing these two completely different laughs, Guinevere couldn't help but raise her hand to press her temples. Looking to the side, she saw that the girl in the white dress also looked dazed, and gave a wry smile.

This was probably the most knighting ceremony she had ever seen, no, it was probably one that could be recorded in history.

Not only did she skip the stage of accumulating merit as a knight's follower, but after being conferred the title, she even boasted that she would "steal" a set of armor for this new subordinate to wear. She didn't know if anyone else would follow suit, but it was certain that no one had ever done it before.

"Really..."

After thinking for a while, I couldn't find a suitable adjective.

To everyone's surprise, Perinoa seemed to have heard her mutterings, stopped laughing, and turned around: "What? Little girls, you two seem to be quite capable. Anyway, one is already being conferred an honor, so two or three wouldn't be too many. How about I confer one on you too?"

"Well... I appreciate your kind offer."

"Don't be shy, come on, kneel down on one knee. Whether you're male or female, as long as you can go to the battlefield and kill people, you're a good knight!"

"Really, really, really, I don't need it anymore, I... Lily, please help me... Wait, where did everyone go?!"

……

"Aren't we going to help Dad?"

"Nimia asked in her childish voice."

Following her instincts, the girl in the white dress, who had already hidden to the side, tilted her head and thought for a moment before answering guiltily, "I don't think so..."

"really?"

“…Nimia, you have to believe that Fina can solve this problem on her own.” Wiping away a bead of cold sweat, Lily said seriously, “Hecto said that trust is very important between people.”

Nimiao bit her finger and thought seriously for a long time.

"Oh!"

……

"Lily——"

P.S.: I saw someone say that Qingbai broke his promise and didn't update twice, but he clearly said it was before 7 a.m., with a time limit. Please read the question carefully (slams table). But it's the first time, so even though it's a day late, I'll still post two updates... It's not that I accidentally wrote too much and had to split it into two chapters and change the title of chapter 84 as well!

That's right, there's another chapter before that, don't miss it~ Qingbai is so diligent with double updates, you should give him thunderous double applause and recommendation votes, recommendation votes, recommendation votes!

Chapter 87 Seeking the Mysterious Beast of Water

Industry specializing in surgery.

Although the three brothers weren't particularly strong fighters on their own, and their combined strength wouldn't be enough to defeat anyone else present (possibly excluding Nimiao) with one hand, as hunters, they each possessed one or two trump cards—this was the source of their confidence in volunteering to help repay a debt of gratitude:

Humberts could easily outrun a galloping horse on foot; Stout was a master of leaping, walking through mountains and fields as if on flat ground, and even leaping over treetops when the road passed through dense forest.

As for Henwas, he was born with an extraordinary sense of smell. It is said that he once smelled the scent of wild animals nearly a hundred miles away, and thus set up a trap in advance, capturing a ferocious wild boar that would normally be difficult for even three or five adult men to take down.

In the past, the three brothers worked together and killed not only ordinary wild beasts, but also one or two wyverns. This achievement might not be worth mentioning in front of a true master, but among ordinary people, it was enough to boast about their glorious achievements in the first half of their lives.

After the three men introduced their strengths, Perinoa nodded. As everyone knows, this former king of the islands had been very keen on hunting since his youth. Even though hunting was one of the important entertainment activities for kings and nobles in this era, and also a kind of social ritual, Perinoa's hunting was different from others. He did not have a complete set of equipment, nor did he have the support of other people—no falcons, hunting dogs, servants, etc. He simply changed into a set of tattered and old clothes, carried a bow and arrows, rode a horse, and went out of the city to hunt alone. He even mingled among the common people, drinking wine from large bowls and eating meat in large chunks. If you did not know his identity, you would probably only think that he was an exceptionally healthy old hunter.

After the islands were destroyed, although he remained king, he had actually given up his territory and subjects. As a wanderer, he was no longer bound by any rules and acted as he pleased. If he liked someone, he would grant them a knighthood, completely disregarding the possibility that the person might use the title to swindle and cheat. If this rule-breaking behavior reached the ears of other conservative nobles, it would cause a huge uproar.

Perinoa's idea was simple.

At worst, if anyone tries to cause trouble, he can just come over and beat them up. For the old man, problems that can be solved with his fists are not really problems, and problems that he can't solve with his fists... are actually not many.

He nodded at this point: "How much do the three of you know about the Water-Seeking Beast?"

"A wondrous creature."

After saying this, Henwas glanced at the two girls. Judging from the fact that he was lying on the stretcher, his face pale, yet he still took over the conversation, it could be inferred that the three brothers usually took him as their leader.

When they arrived, they overheard Perinoa asking a question and Guinevere and the other woman shaking their heads in response. Their current words were likely partly intended for the two people here who were unfamiliar with the Water Beast:

"Let me state upfront that I have never actually seen what the Water-Seeking Beast looks like. And the descriptions I've heard from the elders differ greatly. You can decide for yourselves which one to believe..."

"Some say that the Water-Seeking Beast is very strange in appearance, with a head that is thin and long like a snake, an upper body like a leopard, and the lower half of its body like a lion, and it also has four deer hooves. At the same time, there is another saying that the Water-Seeking Beast looks like a particularly huge beaver."

Henvas gestured with his hands, trying to express the approximate size of the "extraordinarily large beaver," and then shortened the distance between his palms: "...about this big, I'm guessing."

"I see. The first one sounds scary, but I'd like to see the beaver in person."

Lily suddenly realized, and an image of a large, shiny-furred, and adorable beaver involuntarily appeared in her mind... How cute!

she thinks.

“The Water-Seeking Beast is a rare creature; an ordinary person might not encounter it even once in their lifetime. But encountering it is not a good thing—” Perinoa suddenly interjected.

Lily was taken aback; "Why?"

The old man didn't answer, but glanced at Henwas, who understood and continued, "Legend has it that the Water-Seeking Beast usually hides away, only appearing a few days before a plague or flood breaks out. So once news of someone seeing the Water-Seeking Beast spreads, whether it's true or false, the local lord will hurriedly order his men to evacuate all the nearby residents. If the news is true, then all is well..."

“One of our friends mistook other wild beasts for water-seeking beasts and reported it, which caused the lord to suffer great losses and lose face in front of other nobles,” the usually taciturn Stoutty interjected.

"Besides, we don't even know if the water-seeking beast is really related to plagues or floods. I think it's most likely a hoax..."

Humberts, whose left cheek was swollen, waved his hand. The mark looked like he had been slapped. Considering the cause and effect, as well as the complicated expression he occasionally showed, Guinevere guessed that the slap was most likely from his father, Elim, the caravan leader.

As for the reason, when they saw the three brothers carrying a stretcher over, they all knew the answer and there was no need to ask any further.

"The rumors that the Water-Seeking Beast brings plague and floods are true." Perinoa interrupted Humberts in a deep voice, and several gazes turned to him. "And the two appearances you mentioned earlier are also correct."

"This……"

Even though the words came from his own mouth, it was clear that Henwas himself didn't quite believe these rumors. In his view, the old folks in the village would say all sorts of nonsense when they were drunk, just to brag.

Hearing Perinoa speak with such certainty, he was taken aback: "You mean?"

"actually--"

The old man was about to speak.

Suddenly, the surrounding mountains, now darkened by nightfall, were swept by a gentle evening breeze, which seemed to carry some strange sounds from afar.

At first glance, it sounded like dozens of hunting dogs barking at the same time, their fierce roars overlapping and creating terrifying echoes that reverberated through the valley, making one's heart tremble with fear.

Before the others could react, Perinoa suddenly turned his head, looking in a certain direction, a deep light flashing in his eyes: "Has it begun...?"

"what?"

Guinevere instinctively pressed for an answer.

He simply waved his hand and said, "Come with me. Seeing is faster than talking—" With that, he strode forward.

The others quickly followed.

Under the cover of night, eerie howls echoed, growing ever closer...

P.S.: I'm not feeling well today. I had already written the "no-post" note, but remembering Qingbai's vow not to delay for ten months, I gritted my teeth and kept working on it until I finally finished this chapter... I'm exhausted, so I can't write another chapter. I'll try to write more tomorrow.

Happy National Day holiday everyone! Did you manage to get the Water Nylon?

Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Mystery of the Strange Beast

Night fell, enveloping the fields. A crescent moon hung in the sky, its light spreading like frost.