Uncle here isn't your average office worker!

I wanted to run away, but you've got me under control! With this knife to my back, tell me, how can I not be moved?

That's why what happened next happened.

Roy chased after them alone, while the spirits of the Fire Lung gang flew ahead, exchanging a few words every now and then. The bounty hunter, who seemed to be the leader, tearfully accused himself, his voice trembling with emotion.

“Marna, you are cruel, bloodthirsty, unethical, and shameless! You ambushed me, a bounty hunter in his thirties, what kind of hero are you?”

Roy didn't argue and accepted everything.

Anyway, they weren't cursing me. Let Marna do the sneezing.

Ordinary people can't outrun the deep-sea black marketeer. Before long, Roy grabbed the back of the warhorse's collar. The warhorse, which was about to continue running, felt the pull from behind and its face turned pale. It turned its head and met Roy's smiling face.

"Whoaaah!"

"Snapped!"

A crisp sound interrupted his scream. The warhorse covered its flushed face and stared blankly at Roy, as if it had suddenly calmed down.

Did that big slap wake him up?

Roy's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly memorized the information: if you encounter someone who is too weak and cannot get rid of the abnormal state of fear for a long time, a personality correction palm strike can be very effective.

Not bad, it was an unexpected bonus.

Roy looked at the warhorse sitting blankly on the ground. At this moment, he had no idea how much of a wound his big slap had left on the young mind of the thirty-eight-year-old boy in front of him.

"Calm down?"

He asked. The warhorse's eyes flickered, but finally, it lowered its head, bearing the weight of its humiliation:

"Calm down, Mr. Marner. Please ask me any questions you may have. I will answer them to the best of my ability."

"No need. I'm not asking you any confidential matters." These bounty hunter gangs claim to take clean jobs, but everyone knows they've certainly committed plenty of murder, arson, and robbery. Even if Roy were to be killed, his merit would actually increase. Normally, he might have intervened, but now he has more important matters to attend to. He'll leave this minor trouble to the Supervisory Council.

"I'd like to know all the information about the treasure you've been searching for lately—the Treasure of Drip Village. Is that a problem?"

"The treasure of Drip Village?" Warhorse was stunned. "But we've only heard rumors about that treasure; it hasn't been officially confirmed yet. What news could there possibly be?"

What he said was true. According to the original plot, the discovery of the knightly noble's treasure in Dripwater Village, which attracted Grani, Skadi, Big Bob, and two bounty hunter groups, should have happened around the same time that the Doctor was rescued in Chernobog. That was still three years away, and it was still far from being confirmed. Even if you killed him, he wouldn't be able to reveal anything.

Roy was not discouraged; this was within his expectations. He continued:

"No problem, then I'll trouble you to be my guide and take me to Dishui Village, how about that?"

"But......"

"Don't you want to be the good guy?" Roy casually picked up a stone, held it in his hand, and crushed it in front of the warhorse, sending a clump of stone dust slowly falling to the ground. He looked as if to say, "If you don't want to be the good guy, I'll have to teach you how to be one by force."

Seeing this, he could only nod.

"I'll take you there, but you have to promise me one thing."

"what's up?"

"If you encounter forest rangers, remember to be polite."

Volume 1: Chapter 125 You're my idol!

It might be hard for ordinary people to imagine that a group of profit-driven, thieving, and ruthless bounty hunters would show genuine respect when a certain name is mentioned.

But in Kazimir, this is possible. Because that name is "Forest Keeper."

Being a forest ranger is not a profession, but a designation, a responsibility, belonging to a group of idealistic, patriotic individuals who refuse to be governed by the arrogant and corrupt Overseer Council. Most are victims and orphans of the long and brutal Ursus-Qazimir border conflict, while a smaller number are volunteers of high moral character who voluntarily joined the cause out of their ideals. They are active year-round in the border region of Qazimir, battling Ursus border troops in the dense jungles, repeatedly thwarting the Ursus Empire's incursions and conspiracies along the border.

They were thus given the title of "Forest Keepers," meaning that in addition to the knights who charged into battle on the great plains, there was another group of people who guarded Kazimierz in the dark forests.

"Even bounty hunters would never lay a finger on forest rangers, no matter how much money they offer! Those in our line of work are the ones who value these principles the most."

The captured Fire Lung and Warhorse spoke with righteous indignation, as if they would rather die than reveal their whereabouts to Roy than say anything detrimental to the forest rangers.

They weren't lying. As one of the three major bounty hunter factions, Fire Lung, while certainly not a good person, did adhere to principles. Their trade had a long-standing rule: if anyone discovered the Rangers' tracks, they absolutely couldn't expose themselves and had to provide as much assistance as possible. After all, they were from Kazimir, and they knew that if the Ursus Grey Legion truly crushed Kazimir, they wouldn't fare any better. They would treat these silent resistance fighters with the utmost respect.

If Roy hadn't insisted on finding the location of Drip Village, they wouldn't have revealed this information.

"The forest rangers appeared in Dishui Village a while ago, where they briefly set up camp and rested. There weren't many of them, it looked like just a small team of about ten people. I sent An there to provide them with maps of the surrounding area and supplies, but An didn't see them and was caught by you guys. I don't know if they've left yet."

Warhorse explained, and Roy nodded slightly, then narrowed his eyes in confusion:

"So here's the question: why are you telling me all this?"

According to Warhorse and Fire Lung, the Ranger's whereabouts should be a secret. Even if Roy is going to Drip Village and might run into them, there is absolutely no need for the two of them to tell Roy this information. This would increase their risk of exposure and would also violate the "principle".

But they still said it.

Hearing Roy's question, a repulsive blush suddenly appeared on his filthy face. He licked his lips, stepped forward, and instead of Skadi, extended his hands to Roy, shaking them firmly:

"I was so nervous that I didn't recognize you. You are the famous Knight Roy! Who in Kazimierz doesn't know your legend? Your story of rising from a mere knight novice to defeat the Blood Knight with the final move, Pegasus Meteor Fall, is the bedtime story that kids love to hear these days! You are my idol!"

"Huh? Uh..."

Roy, who was harboring a lot of bad intentions and guessing that there was some kind of conspiracy, was stunned and never expected the answer to be like this.

But Huofei's mouth didn't stop for a moment, continuing to chatter:

"Although I couldn't be there to watch your final match live, I spent several thousand dollars to cheer for your prize pool. I was also one of the first users to pay to unlock the recording of your final match. You are a legend of Kazimierz, a hero. How could a great knight who can use that Pegasus Meteor Fall move be a bad guy?"

“I was thinking that when I found out about that forest ranger team, they weren’t doing too well either. I was going to send someone to ask them if they needed any help, but I couldn’t even get a chance to see them. But you’re different. Someone like you going to them, I’m sure even the forest rangers would give you face, right? If you can help them, then, rounding up, my merit points will increase a bit.”

So you're still thinking about accumulating merit?

Roy had originally gone there for the treasure of Dripping Water Village, but after Fire Lung mentioned it, his simple, straightforward, and somewhat cliché reason became harder to justify. Besides, he was also quite interested in the Forest Ranger.

Although there weren't many forest rangers in Kazimierz, there were still several groups. Roy hadn't expected to encounter the same group of forest rangers from Rhodes Island; it was all up to fate. However, he genuinely respected a group of people who had voluntarily devoted themselves to the fight to defend their country out of ideals and aspirations. If, as Fire Lung said, their situation wasn't too good, Roy wouldn't mind lending a hand if he could.

With Skadi and himself on our side, even if a whole platoon of defenders came without us playing, we could still put up a fight without worrying about our fighting strength.

Who knows, you might even trigger some new missions, get new modules and rewards. Under the shadow of the Sea King's destruction, why not do something that can improve your strength?

"I understand." Roy nodded, acknowledging the matter.

Seeing that his idol hadn't objected, Huo Lung's face lit up with a smile, and he instinctively called out towards the outside of the tent:

"Someone, prepare food, water, and medicine, especially wound medicine and bandages, and send them to our idol, Knight Heng!"

But after a long while, no one answered from outside.

Warhorse could only weakly remind us, "Boss, our team has all scattered."

"Ah, who did it..." Huo Fei's expression, which was about to erupt, froze. He quickly glanced at Roy, pursed his lips, and had no choice but to swallow his anger.

Who else could have done it? Roy, of course. But he couldn't do anything about it. Not only was Roy his idol, but even if he wanted to get revenge on Roy, he'd have to be able to beat him.

"Alright, alright, Warhorse, you accompany Knight Heng and this young lady on this errand. Take all the supplies, and if you see any of our people along the way, tell them to come back. This is where Knight Heng used to work; if they come back too late, there won't be any spots left for them!"

Warhorse nodded, then nodded to Roy and Skadi, who was silent and lost in thought, and said, "Let's go. Drip Village isn't far; if we set off now, we should arrive by dawn."

PS: Sorry, I don't know how I copied the chapter twice. My bad! Because Hedgehog Cat's backend is practically a thesis defense platform, authors usually write in other word processing software, then copy and paste it before sending. Maybe I'm clumsy, but while correcting typos, I accidentally copied it twice. Then, thinking I was done after correcting the typos, I didn't check it a third time and sent it directly, resulting in this blunder. This is definitely my fault. Sorry, sorry. Because Hedgehog Cat requires that the word count after a chapter is revised cannot be lower than the original word count, I couldn't post it even if I deleted the duplicate part, which is really stupid. I could only delete the duplicate part and fill in the word count here.

I am so sorry, ... I'm so sorry, so very ...

Volume 1: Regarding the issue of the previous page being repeated

Because I'm often criticized for having too many typos, and I feel ashamed of myself for making mistakes, I always do a quick check after I finish writing to make sure there are no errors. However, since the author backend on Hedgehog Cat often has bugs that cause chapters and word count errors to be swallowed, most authors usually write their work on dedicated word processing software and then copy and paste it into the backend to send it directly. Therefore, I may have copied duplicates when I was checking for typos before sending it, resulting in a 300-word duplicate in the previous chapter. I sincerely apologize for this.

The author genuinely didn't intend to pad the word count, I'm so sorry. Because if I edited the chapter after submitting it to Hedgehog Cat, the word count of the new chapter couldn't be lower than the original, so after deleting it, I could only add an apology at the end. This mistake won't happen again, I'm very sorry.

Volume 1: Chapter 126 Hey hey hey, Knight Heng is here!

Abandoned houses in Drip Village, on the Kasimir border.

The sky had long since darkened, and the midnight moonlight cast a particularly cold hue on the rooftops. The quiet village was devoid of the clamor of the great knights' revelry; only the distant howls of fanged beasts and the soft rustling of the wind through the grass could be heard in the wilderness.

The Erafia girl, dressed in light gray camouflage, pushed open the door of the thatched hut. The person inside immediately raised their hand to half-cover their eyes. After adjusting to the moonlight, she looked at her returning companion and nodded gently.

"Was today's operation successful?"

"Not bad." The girl nodded slightly, hung the crossbow on the wall, and sat down in the corner. "We didn't find any trace of the Ursus people. The group of warlocks who were chasing us has probably been shaken off. Next, we just need to recover from our injuries and then find a way to rejoin the main force."

The injured Kuranta seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and her whole body relaxed from the tense state. She wanted to straighten her legs, but as soon as she straightened her knees, she grimaced and pulled them back, pressing on the bandage at her joints that was starting to bleed again.

"Are you okay?"

The Elafia girl quickly scrambled to her feet and went to her side, showing concern. She simply shook her head, offering a lighthearted reassurance:

"It's nothing, this isn't the first time I've been injured. Don't let my current disheveled appearance fool you, I used to be able to move dozens of kilometers with the main force even with a broken arm."

She grinned and joked, "I was a hero too, until I took an arrow to the knee."

But the young girl from Elafia couldn't smile. The memory of that night still sent shivers down her spine.

At that time, the forest rangers had just finished a day's patrol and were returning to camp to rest. There were about ten of them, and the leader was an experienced veteran who had refused the recruitment of the Supervisory Council because he couldn't stand the rules and regulations of the War Knights and their emphasis on "bloodline," and chose to become an unknown forest ranger.

He had thwarted hundreds of border provocations by Ursus scouts throughout his life, and missions led by him had never gone wrong. Everyone assumed this time would be no different. They simply needed to rest well in this safe camp for a day, and then set off again at dawn the next day for the next area.

But no one expected that on such a bright night, all the accidents would happen at the same time.

First, the scout on night watch suddenly lost contact, and then the forest ranger sent to check the situation was also attacked. The rest of the men rushed to the leader's tent, hoping to wake the captain and organize an evacuation, but as soon as they opened the tent, they saw the seriously wounded captain and the assassin lying in front of him.

"They're Ursus people, including warlocks. My commander's area has been silenced. What's the situation outside?"

The old captain spoke haltingly, his steps unsteady. He had a large hole in his abdomen that almost exposed his stomach and intestines, and a clearly visible knife scar on his throat, but he still managed to explain the current situation in the simplest terms possible.

Before anyone could answer, he stepped out of the tent. Gazing at the camp, now a sea of ​​fire, he took a deep breath and shouted to the chaotic rangers:

"Young people go first, the old ones stay behind, break out separately, and meet up at Camp D3!"

Then, he swiftly slashed with his sword, severing the neck of the Ursus scout who was trying to ambush him, and then lunged forward, saving the lives of two recruits who were about to be captured.