"Marquis Charles?"
"Marquis Charles is the eldest son of the Duke of St. Hilde, the first heir in line..."
"Nonsense! Of course I know who the Marquis of Charles is, but why did his knights appear here? And why are we urgently recruited?"
"Isn't Marquis Charles fighting the trolls at the border? Are we going to the border?"
"How is it possible? This place is so far away from the border, even if there is an emergency call, they will not come here to recruit troops. And you see, the call-up order clearly states that we must go to Jinghu Lake to assemble within two days."
"Where is Mirror Lake?"
"It's not too far from here. Follow this small river to the north for more than 50 kilometers, and you'll probably be there."
"Then shall we go?"
"I don't want to go to the battlefield!"
"But...but this is an emergency call-up order from the St. Hilde family!"
"But it wasn't issued by His Excellency the Duke himself."
"Won't the Marquis of Charles be the Duke of the North in the future?"
"That will have to wait until he actually inherits the title in the future... Besides, I don't want to die!"
"It doesn't necessarily mean that you will die. Maybe this is a good opportunity to make contributions."
"Oh, idiot!"
"Who are you scolding!"
"I scold you for what!"
…
When Saru brought the emergency call-up order from Marquis Charles back to the camp, everyone exploded immediately.
Some people agreed, some people opposed, and there was a quarrel.
The reason for this situation is that the urgent call-up order came from the Marquis Charles, not his father, the Lord of the North, the Duke of St. Hilde.
The title of Marquis of Charles St. Hilde is false and has no actual fiefdom. It is just a confirmation of his first-in-line succession, which is somewhat similar to the position of prince in ancient China.
But although the status of the prince is noble, he is not the emperor after all.
Therefore, if the Duke of St. Hilde issued an emergency call-up order, then any northerner who received the order would not dare to resist.
However, if it is an emergency call-up order issued by the Marquis of Charles...
Just look at the Firefox mercenary group that is now making a fuss, and you can see its effectiveness.
"Enough! Shut up!" Saru yelled irritably, stopping the quarrel among his subordinates.
Then he turned to Oliver and asked, "Does Marquis Charles have the power to issue an emergency call-up order?"
"I remember that the Marquis of Charles should not have such power..." Oliver was a little uncertain, and turned to Colin for help, "Knight Kahn, am I right?"
"According to the law, the Marquis of Charles does not have this power." Colin searched the memory in his mind, "However, there are similar precedents in the history of the Northern Territory."
Oliver's face, which had just recovered, turned gloomy in an instant.
He absolutely does not want the Firefox Mercenary Group to be urgently recruited at this time.
Without the escort of the mercenary group, his caravan became a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, and it was impossible to reach Eagle Falling City safely.
"Then, Captain Saru..." Oliver said in a somewhat difficult tone, "Are you ready to accept this call-up order?"
Saru's brows were tightly frowned, obviously he was also very dissatisfied with this emergency call-up order. After thinking about it for a while, he slowly shook his head and said, "No."
As soon as he said this, Oliver's face immediately showed joy, but the mercenary leaders behind Saru immediately exploded.
"Master, you can't refuse Marquis Charles' call-up order like this!"
"Yes! The Saint Hilde family will not let us go!"
"And that team of cavalry... I think they really dare to kill people!"
Saru suddenly turned his head and cast a vicious glance at the clamoring mercenaries behind him.
The scene fell silent again in an instant.
"Do you know what we will face if we accept this call-up order and go to Jinghu Lake?"
After hearing Captain Saru's question, several mercenary leaders looked at each other, and then replied: "It should be preparing to fight. Although it is dangerous, it is better than disobeying the orders of the St. Hilde family."
"War?" Saru sneered, "We are going to die!"
"What?"
"My lord, why?"
"War doesn't necessarily mean death? Besides, if we win, maybe we'll get some military merit too..."
"You are dreaming!" Saru mercilessly interrupted the delusions of his subordinates, "Think about it again! Why did Marquis Charles' army appear in Mirror Lake?"
The mercenaries looked at each other.
Colin's eyes flickered, as if he understood Saru's meaning.
But Oliver yelled directly: "That's right! I also suspect that the Marquis of Charles may have retreated all the way to the Mirror Lake!"
"What?"
"How can this be?"
"How could Lord Marquis lose?"
…
The mercenaries expressed their disbelief.
No wonder they had such blind trust in Marquis Charles.
Because, in recent decades, the trolls have been completely suppressed and beaten by the northern army.
Five years ago, even the troll king's court was forced to move north under the threat of the northern frontier. The large area in the southern part of the sky ice field has almost become a hunting ground for the northern army.
If the climate and environment on the ice sheet were not too harsh, it was not suitable for growing crops or building manor castles, I am afraid that the territory of the northern border would have to extend further north.
Under such circumstances, no proud northerner would have thought that the St. Hilde family would be defeated.
But thinking about it carefully, Saru and Oliver's guess is very reasonable.
In the past few months, there has been no good news from the frontline battlefield. Instead, several towns on the border were breached one after another, and several families lost their fiefs.
At first, everyone thought it was just a troll jumping over the wall in a hurry, and sent a small group of troops to bypass the front line and enter the northern border to harass.
Although the private armies of several families were temporarily repelled, as long as the main northern army led by Marquis Charles returns to help, these invading troll armies will be wiped out and the lost ground will be regained.
But now it seems that this may not be the case.
Because, the army of Marquis Charles has already appeared in Mirror Lake...
It is no longer the border, but the hinterland.
In the memory of this generation of northerners, the trolls have never been able to penetrate this place.
Most of the mercenaries fell silent, obviously they were scared.
But some people disagreed and encouraged: "Even so, we can go to Mirror Lake to help Marquis Charles defeat the invading trolls..."
"Idiot!" Saru snapped, "When the army is retreating, you still want to turn the tide? Just rely on us mercenaries who were urgently recruited?"
"It's not just us, the nearby mercenary regiments must have received emergency call-up orders..."
"It's just a bunch of cannon fodder!" Saru knew very well what kind of goods his subordinates were.
These guys can kill their own people by mistake when fighting thieves. It is a bit of a compliment to say that they are a mob.
Still thinking about going to the battlefield to fight the regular army
Really courting death!
Saru finally made up his mind, ignored the opposing voices of his subordinates, turned around resolutely, and walked towards the cavalry of the St. Hilde family.
Seeing Saru's leaving back, everyone looked at each other with different expressions.
Colin also suddenly realized that his father, Baron Angelet, had not written back for several months.
This is obviously a bit unusual.
It seems that someone is deliberately blocking news from the front line...
Could it be that the situation on the front line is really bad
…
"How dare you refuse the Marquis' call-up order?" The leader of the St. Hilde family knight suddenly shouted angrily, not knowing what Saru said there.
"Master Knight, I just want to know..."
"Enough! If you refuse the emergency call-up order, you will be treason!" The knight interrupted Saru's defense arbitrarily, and said to the members of the Firefox mercenary group gathered in front of him, "Whoever kills this traitor will be promoted immediately!" Centurion!"
"Wow—"
There was an uproar among the mercenaries.
Some people were filled with righteous indignation, some people sneered with disdain, but some people's eyes flickered.
"Master Knight!" Without turning his head, Saru confidently handed his back to the people behind him, and continued, "I respect the St. Hilde family, and I respect the Marquis of Charles, but we also have the right to know our own What is the situation of the place we are about to go to..."
Saru stopped abruptly after speaking halfway.
Because, a long sword pierced his chest.
"Ho-ho-" Saru spat out blood, trying to turn his head away.
After seeing the face of the young man behind him clearly, the expression on his face suddenly became extremely complicated.
"Boom!"
The body fell to the ground.
"Very good!" The knight on horseback nodded in satisfaction, looked at the young man holding the blood-dripping sword and said, "Tell me your name."
"Dear knight, my name is Thrall."
"Thal? What is your relationship with this Saru?"
"He is my father, honorable knight."
(end of this chapter)