The Lord Of Blood Hill-Chapter 267: That’s the Bodyguard
Of the viscount's hundreds of private soldiers, very few escaped alive.
The rest were cut down on the spot by Henwell and his group, and after the battle, they finished off the wounded one by one.
With everything done, Henwell’s team immediately moves on, pressing westward.
By the time the kingdom’s nearby garrison arrives, all that’s left is a field of corpses.
They don’t even find the viscount’s body—only a tattered fur cloak with bits of flesh clinging to it.
Because this is a major incident, the garrison s it up the chain.
At the same time, they dispatch cavalry to pursue Henwell’s group in the direction they left.
But Henwell and company have already been gone for over seven hours.
It’s still night, making travel difficult.
But Henwell’s group is different, night blindness doesn’t exist for knights.
Though they can’t see perfectly in the dark, it doesn’t stop them from pressing on.
They gallop at about 30 kilometers per hour, switching horses every hour.
Thanks to carefully selected warhorses, in seven hours they cover nearly 200 kilometers.
That’s with the drag of their Grand Carriage wagons—without those, they’d be even faster.
Late at night, Henwell’s group stops in a small town.
Faced with these armored knights, some still stained with blood, the town sheriff dares not ask too many questions, especially after Orak shows a travel permit bearing the kingdom’s seal.
Even if unsure of its authenticity, the sheriff accepts it as genuine.
The group rests for a few hours, then sets off again the next morning.
By evening, they reach Namwon City—the southern administrative center of the Ika Kingdom!
South of Namwon City lies the territory of Duke Kolen.
Namwon City is completely unprepared for Henwell’s arrival.
Orak presents the travel permit signed by the Ika king, putting the city’s lord in a tough spot.
He has no choice but to let Orak’s group enter the city, and cannot confiscate their weapons or gear.
The group plans to rest in the city for a day.
The next day, they’ll purchase supplies and repair their four-wheeled wagons, which have been running hard for a full day and night.
They already did some basic maintenance back at the small town, but now it’s time for major repairs.
After all, the intense, continuous travel has taken a serious toll on many parts of the wagons.
Henwell leads his men in replacing parts and fixing up the wagons.
Though these wagons are custom-made with heavily reinforced materials, they still suffer quite a bit of damage.
That’s why Henwell prepared several sets of spare parts prone to wear and tear.
He doesn’t just toss out the old parts either. Most of them are still usable, and Henwell can repair them himself.
Don’t forget, Henwell is quite the skilled craftsman.
So, when Orak returns from gathering supplies, he finds Henwell swinging hammers and other tools, meticulously fixing delicate parts.
Henwell’s men gather around, watching intently as he works.
He keeps explaining the key points of repair and pointing out the common weak spots in the wagons.
No matter where they are, men tend to get interested in fixing things.
Orak and his men squat nearby, watching Henwell work on the wagons all afternoon.
Many are itching to try their hand at it themselves.
By evening, the wagons are fully repaired.
Orak finds Henwell, freshly washed up.
“The manor we’re staying at is surrounded by a heavy guard detail, all arranged by the lord of Namwon City. What’s he playing at? Protecting us? That doesn’t make sense. We just killed a kingdom viscount. We’re probably wanted criminals now! Could it be he already got word and is preparing to trap us? That fast?”
Henwell wipes his hair with a towel. “Nope. He’s guarding against us. If he actually knew what happened, he wouldn’t even let us into the city. He’s the city lord, representing the king. But we have a travel permit signed by the Ika king.”
”If he sided openly with the nobles, it’d expose the king’s stance, and clearly, the king doesn’t want to be responsible for stirring up trouble. Right now, he’s just on alert. We might be few, but we’re all armored knights.”
’If we caused trouble inside Namwon City, this lord would be in deep trouble and have to bear the blame. So, he’s posted troops around to keep us contained—to stop us from causing problems and to prevent anyone from attacking us.”
Orak ponders for a moment. “We’re really close to the South Regions Duke’s territory in the Ika Kingdom. I bet that old fox has already caught wind of this. He’s probably on his way with troops to block us. Judging by the distance, it’s going to be tough for us to leave the city tomorrow.”
Henwell, soaking his feet, replies, “That old fox will come, no doubt. But I don’t think he’s here to cause trouble. He’s smart and cautious, so he won’t act rashly against us. The real headache is that dumb viscount from yesterday. He didn’t understand a thing, hadn’t figured out the situation. He’s the real problem for us.”
Orak nods. “Exactly. When dealing with this kind of trouble, we have to hit hard and fast to wipe it out, or it’ll drag on forever. If we get through this clean, it’ll be a lot harder for the Ika Kingdom to use minor players to hold us back.”
”Even if they don’t know the full story, just knowing we killed a kingdom viscount and still walk around openly sends a message. At the very least, they’ll realize we’re bold enough to kill nobles and face no consequences. That’ll make them wary, and they won’t listen to anyone trying to mess with us behind the scenes.”
After spending time with Henwell, Orak gradually understands his way of thinking.
Unlike others who focus on intricate schemes, Henwell prefers to play on human nature and get straight to the heart of the matter.
When facing smart people, Henwell makes them weigh whether it’s worth the risk.
When dealing with fools, he usually skips the talk and goes straight for the knife.
Contrary to Orak’s expectations, that very night Duke Kolen arrives in Namwon City, looking weary from travel.
Once inside the city, Duke Kolen immediately asks about Henwell and his group.
When he learns the city lord only sent troops to surround the manor and impose martial law, Kolen is pleased.
He smiles at the city lord, saying, “You did well. No further actions, and you didn’t let things escalate.”
The city lord looks confused, unsure what to make of it.
Kolen doesn’t have time to explain and promptly deploys three hundred knights from his personal guard around the manor where Henwell’s group is staying.
That night, Duke Kolen doesn’t seek out Henwell.
From then until dawn, more and more troops arrive in the city, each led by their commanders.
.
!
Chapter 267: That’s the Bodyguard
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