Uncle here isn't your average office worker!

"Sigh, when will the sequel to 'The Legend of Hengyao' be released? I've watched the first one almost ten times!"

"I heard it'll be soon, right? Didn't the publisher say they've already obtained authorization from Lin Guang's sister?"

The conversation of passersby reached her ears, and Margaret's kind smile froze, a vein throbbed on her forehead, and she gradually became irritated.

.........

“Miss Skadi, I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

Outside Drip Village, Marna drew his longsword from his waist and looked solemnly at Skadi lying on her back on the grass at the village entrance.

"Is Roy nearby?"

Skadi didn't answer; she was lost in her memories.

With the treasure still at large and Roy busy with other matters, and lacking any talent for treasure hunting, she could only take a job guarding the wheat fields, stationed at the village entrance.

However, the only bounty hunters who would come to a remote place like Dripwater Village to loot on a regular basis were the Fire Lung and Yellow Smoke bounty hunter gangs. Fire Lung had already been taken down by Skadi and Roy, and knowing that there were Rangers and Roy in Dripwater Village, it was impossible for him to come over. Yellow Smoke was also nowhere to be found for the time being, so Skadi could only lie there and think about the past when she had nothing to do.

Think of the captain, think of the other hunters, think of the other captains, think of the other captains' hunters.

Unless she sensed hostility, she didn't want to interact with the simple, honest villagers. After all, she came from the sea, and bloodshed would bring disaster. Rather than exhausting herself explaining herself each time, it was simpler to keep them at arm's length from the start.

Seeing that Skadi did not react, Marna frowned and slowed down as she walked forward. When she reached Skadi, she raised her sword again. This time, Skadi moved.

The girl's eyes held a hint of confusion as she reached out and grasped Marner's wrist, abruptly stopping him in his action of drawing his sword.

Marna clicked her tongue in amazement.

It's this again. Such powerful strength! It seems like if you use just a little more force, you could crush bones.

But Skadi quickly released her grip, and after examining Marna for a moment, she asked in confusion:

"Are you a bounty hunter?"

Marna shook her head: "No."

"Are you a robber?"

Marna squinted: "No."

"So you're reinforcements for the forest rangers?"

"Where did you hear the term 'forest ranger' from?"

Marna immediately pressed for an answer.

Skadi didn't hide anything; it wasn't a secret: "Roy left a few days ago. He rescued two rangers. I heard there was a mole among the rangers, so he went to help."

Was there a traitor among the Forest Rangers? Why were the War Knights and the Supervisory Council completely unaware of the situation? What happened on the border?

That short sentence conveyed a wealth of information. Marner frowned, sheathed his drawn sword, and said:

"Let's find a place and talk in detail."

Volume 1: Chapter 144 The War Is Coming

"How did you sleep last night?"

Brutus poured Roy a glass of water and made a casual, polite remark.

Roy shook his head: "Not good. My mind is full of things, how can I sleep?"

Brutus sat down in the chair and continued, picking up where Roy left off:

"Oh? Then may I ask what problem is troubling Lord Roy so much?"

It was eight o'clock in the morning, the winter sun was just beginning to peek through the clouds, and the outdoor temperature was probably still below zero. Roy, however, had come to his camp so early; needless to say, something important must have happened. Coupled with his acceptance of Natasha's invitation to dinner last night, Brutus already had some guesses in his mind.

His guess was correct; Roy's next question cut straight to the heart of the matter:

“From the first day I arrived here, I heard the legend of Robin Hood from Ambenar. However, I recently learned something unusual. I wonder what Advisor Brutus thinks of the legend of Robin Hood?”

Brutus clicked his tongue and muttered somewhat helplessly:

“I told Natasha that she absolutely must not tell anyone.”

Despite his grumbling, since Roy had already asked so many questions, he couldn't continue to play dumb and nodded slightly.

"Legends? Legends are always fictional and shouldn't be taken seriously."

Roy nodded. Natasha was indeed unlikely to lie to him about something like this; after all, the information could be verified, and she couldn't possibly convince Brutus to lie with her as well. But there was still one question that Roy was curious about:

"To be honest, I've never understood where you and Ms. Natasha obtained this information, and how you verified its authenticity?"

Robin Hood is a household name. Although Kazimierz does not have historians like those in Yan Kingdom, various folk tales and rumors mention Robin Hood's chivalrous deeds. These rumors are not limited to a certain area, but spread throughout Kazimierz and even parts of Ursus. Doesn't this prove that there was indeed a Robin Hood in history?

Brutus remained silent for a moment, but did not answer Roy's question:

"I'm sorry I can't tell you about that. But whether Robin Hood exists or not is irrelevant. He was a person from a very, very long time ago. Even without him, the Rangers have grown and prospered, haven't they? What you, Mr. Roy, are more interested in is who Chief of Staff Mikhail really is."

Brutus paused, then slowly said:

"He is from Ursus."

.............

Forest ranger, staff officer, Mikhail's office.

The emblem of the reindeer leader, representing the forest rangers, hangs prominently in the center of the wall opposite the entrance, illuminated by the golden light emanating from two Originium lamps. Beneath this emblem, crafted in the shape of the beast's head, lies the desk of Staff Officer Mikhail, covered in documents. Mikhail himself sits at the desk, quietly reviewing the files in his hands.

[Ursus Empire Third Army's Operational Plan Against Casimir]

One corner of the document was stained with blood, and there were obvious signs of crumpling. It's easy to imagine what a moving and tragic story lies behind this small piece of paper.

Mikhail felt sorry for them.

At the forest rangers' staff meeting, Natasha proposed withdrawing all forest rangers, while Brutus wanted everyone to stay at their posts. Mikhail seemed not to make a clear statement on either side's opinion, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that the longer he remained silent, the longer the situation would drag on indefinitely. Naturally, those forest rangers who remained on the border had no choice but to stay at their posts.

This is another form of statement, only without the decisiveness and...ruthlessness of Brutus.

The entire Oak Forest squad was wiped out. The third garrison was ambushed on their way to rescue them. When Anbennal of the first garrison arrived at the scene overnight, he only managed to get this crumpled piece of paper from the mouth of his comrade's corpse. It was stuffed into his mouth and held tightly in his jaws.

The contents of the paper were written in Ursus, containing a lot of enticing, motivating, and pie-in-the-sky rhetoric. The real message could be summarized in one sentence: The special operations conducted by the Ursus Empire's Third Army, controlled by the pro-war faction, have successfully destroyed all of the Forest Rangers' strategic deployments on the border. Now, Kazimir's back is empty. The Third Army's regular forces will launch a special military operation on Kazimir's southwestern border at 4:00 AM three days from now.

"Special military operation," a neologism coined by Ursus, was likely created to circumvent the Imperial Council. After all, the current Ursus Emperor, unlike his predecessor, is not enthusiastic about war, and his supporter, the dovish Speaker Witt, holds the majority of seats in the Imperial Duma. The chances of obtaining proper Duma approval before declaring war are extremely slim. Furthermore, given the current volatile international situation, the Grand Duke of Victoria and the twin queens of Letania probably wouldn't want to see Ursus return to the era of overwhelming military might.

However, it is not in accordance with procedural norms for an army group to go into battle alone, so it is better to just use a different terminology.

It's not war, it's a special military operation. Doesn't that sound much more peaceful?

Mikhail stared silently at the contents above. He had read every word and sentence more than ten times, but even so, he still felt a sense of suffocation.

The messenger sent to the Knights of Conquest has yet to return with any news, and the Supervisory Council seems to have become deaf, failing to react in the slightest to the situation of the Forest Rangers. With no deployment in place, how is Kazimierz supposed to withstand this first wave of attack?

The first wave of attacks took place on the White River, a river stretching hundreds of kilometers along the border between Ursus and Kazimir, and one of the few natural barriers on the vast Uka Plain.

A dozen kilometers further west lies the birthplace of Cyril Nearl's legend.

The Ursus people clearly hoped to take advantage of Kazimir's lack of preparation and quickly seize the river crossing, rendering this border river, which had caused them countless troubles, useless.

The forest rangers should have received the news much earlier and relayed it to the knights so they could prepare for defense. However, the collapse of the intelligence network and the disappearance of the messenger plunged the forest rangers into near silence. After much contemplation, Mikhail had an idea.

He knocked on the table, and immediately a security guard pushed the door open and entered.

"Go and invite Lord Roy; I need his help."

Volume 1: Chapter 145 Delivering the Letter

"To be honest, I don't think there's a mole in the upper echelons of the forest rangers. Maybe you're just too good at disguising yourselves."

Standing before Mikhail, Roy looked slowly at the face of this Ursus anti-war figure and spoke.

From Brutus, Roy finally learned the true identity of the strategist who led the forest rangers under the name "Robin Hood." An anti-war figure from the Ursus Empire—this answer was both completely unexpected and perfectly logical.

Throughout Ursus's long expansion, not only did neighboring countries feel the pressure, but there were also many opponents within Ursus itself. They might have lost loved ones in the war, their homes destroyed, or simply their moral convictions prevented them from supporting such a bloody war of conquest. There were quite a few such people, but the victories and glory of the previous emperor's era were too dazzling, and the emperor's blade was like a shadow, constantly monitoring all dissidents, preventing them from ever gaining any real power.

Mikhail is such a person. Although he looks like a middle-aged man now, according to Brutus, he is nearly eighty years old and is a pacifist who personally experienced the Ursus Conquest and fled the country.

Pacifism never equates to weakness; peace is maintained by weapons, a fact Mikhail understood perfectly. And eliminating people like him was one of the purposes of the Ursus Internal Guard. Before Mikhail, many warriors like him had grown weary of war and wanted to escape Ursus, but in the end, only Mikhail succeeded.

The intelligence he brought from Ursus helped Kazimir gain the upper hand in a small skirmish, earning him the recognition of the Forest Rangers and making him a member. But this was also one of the reasons for his awkward position.

To the ever-expanding Ursus Empire, he was a traitor, refusing military service, sacrificing his life for the country and the emperor, and even escaping with intelligence, causing Ursus to fall behind in the war. Such a person should be hanged. But to the people of Qazimir, his Ursus identity was highly suspicious. No one wanted to believe that a normal person could exist in that terrifying country, let alone allow this person to lead them or even control their lives.

Mikhail's claim to be a descendant of Robin Hood was a reluctant one, as at least the previous generations of Robin Hood were indeed "Robin Hood."

“Mikhail married the previous Robin Hood, who died ten years ago.”

Roy learned of this story from Brutus. Mikhail nodded slightly, neither asking where he had heard it from nor intending to elaborate on the story.

"There is definitely a mole. It may not be one of the three of us, but it is definitely there."

He said firmly,

"But that's a story for another time, Mr. Roy. Please take a look at this."

He reached out and handed the crumpled piece of paper to Roy.

Roy glanced at him, took the paper, only glanced at it briefly, then handed it back, saying frankly:

"Ursus official documents, I can't understand them."

To be frank, that's the truth. In his previous life, Roy had learned a little Russian, but it was limited to everyday greetings and basic phrases for buying things. He hadn't even figured out the basic trill of the 'r', so expecting him to understand Ursus was completely unnecessary. Perhaps some might wonder, as a high-class assassin, shouldn't you know a few foreign languages?

The answer is yes, Roy knows it very well. He knows Victorian and Kazimierz languages, and he can even speak the notoriously difficult Great Yan language fluently. Xuan Tie has to praise Roy for his extensive knowledge!

Mikhail was taken aback by this and didn't know what to say for a moment. He could only take back the note and was about to read it when Roy interrupted him: