Lord: I can see loyalty.

"Elefise!"

Glenn's expression changed slightly as he looked at the tall, thin swordsman in front of him, who was weak but whose appearance hadn't changed much.

Glenn, who was once consumed by the rage of revenge, had no family or friends, and the only one he could call a comrade-in-arms was Elifis.

Before he officially became the guardian of Broadbridge Village, he had wandered for a long time throughout the Kingdom of Rovia in search of news of his family.

While imprisoned due to a misunderstanding, he met this tall, thin man with exceptional swordsmanship, Elifis, in the cell.

After their release from prison, the two traveled together until bandits broke out in their hometown in the south, at which point Glenn decided to return to Broadbridge to protect the village.

Elifis, citing his own idleness as an excuse, joined forces with him, and the two of them defended half of the village of Kuoqiao.

But now, even the mighty swordsman Elifis is in such a sorry state...

"Uh... Glenn?" Elifis was in a very bad state. He staggered forward two steps, and the pirates beside him could only retreat.

They could sense the killing intent emanating from the skilled swordsman before them; this person was undoubtedly a powerful figure who had killed countless people, even though he was currently extremely weak.

"What happened, Elifis?" Glenn quickly helped him up.

Elifis looked at Glenn in front of him with a complicated expression in his eyes, but after a moment, a smile appeared on his face.

"You look different, Glenn."

Elifis glanced at the magic ore greatsword behind Glenn and spoke again: "In the past, you wouldn't have cared about others. It seems that joining that lord has changed you a lot."

Glenn merely frowned slightly. "Stop talking nonsense, you need to rest now..."

He looked at the pirates, and the pirate captain Axel simply watched the scene quietly, already guessing most of what was going on.

"Men, take this soldier back to his quarters to rest!"

The pirates responded with a shout and walked around Glenn and Elifis, who was leaning on his arm, toward the large house in the residential area.

As Glenn passed Axel, he met the man's gaze. Staring into the man's smiling eyes, he spoke in a deep voice.

Thank you.

…………

"A friend of Glenn's has appeared in Kethro Village. Is he connected to the Westerlands?"

In the southern border, in the city of Portol, in the Earl's Castle.

Vio sat on the count's high chair, repeating the message brought by the messenger before him.

He vaguely recalled that when he ordered support for Kuoqiao Village, although he was not present, he did receive news from Ansque later.

"A powerful and terrifying strong man, accompanied by a tall and thin swordsman."

The strongman was Glenn, who later joined the militia. As for the other swordsman, he only knew that the other had not joined and had left Broadbridge Village.

Vio rubbed his chin, and after thinking for a moment, he finally stood up and spoke to Vincent, the captain of the royal guard who was waiting beside him.

"Prepare the horses and have people get ready. I'm going to Keslow Village."

"Yes, ma'am."

Before long, a small caravan set off from Portol, with the Earl's flag flying over the largest carriage.

The carriage sped forward, from the coastal cliffs to the desert, then through a small forest area, and finally arrived at a coastal village.

The village had a harmonious atmosphere, with bursts of laughter from the Black Pearl pirates and villagers emanating from time to time, and the aroma of wine and meat wafting to the village entrance.

"The Earl has arrived!"

Someone shouted, and a large number of villagers and pirates quickly gathered at the village entrance.

From the crowd, a middle-aged man with a large beard and a single black eye patch quickly squeezed out and spoke with a somewhat unpleasant smile on his face.

"Your Excellency, it has been a long time! Your fame has spread throughout the kingdom recently!"

"Axel, enough with the nonsense. You know why I'm here." Vio merely glanced at him before raising his head and looking towards the western border.

"How's the Western Frontier lately?"

"Those pirates from the West have indeed been causing some trouble lately, but don't worry, winter isn't over yet, so they won't be going out to sea."

"As for what you want to know... you mean Glenn and that Elifis, right?" Axel thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up: "Oh, Glenn's here. Looks like I don't need to explain anymore!"

Vio followed his gaze and saw Glenn walking briskly toward them from the direction of the sea.

"Greetings, Your Excellency."

Upon approaching, Glenn bowed respectfully, and only raised his head after receiving a response.

"Tell me, what's the situation with your friend Elifis, and what news did he bring?" Vio asked calmly.

"My lord, Elifis was a comrade I met while searching for my enemies. He left the Southern Territory after I joined the militia."

Glenn paused for a moment before getting to the point: "He continued to wander the kingdom, and during this time, he reached the western border and encountered that infamous group of pirates."

Upon hearing this, the Black Pearl pirates around them began to whisper among themselves; they and the Western Pirates were mortal enemies.

"According to him, he was attacked by a small group of pirates while trading with someone in the port city of Mari."

"Those pirates claimed to be 'Philip's' men, and that they controlled the entire area." Glenn recalled briefly, "Elefis didn't want to cause trouble, so he wanted to find the guards to settle things."

"But the guards didn't care at all and colluded with the pirates. Elifis had no choice but to kill them. After he did, he was targeted by both the guards and the pirates."

Vio simply nodded slightly; the other party's information was indeed the same as what he knew about the situation in the Western Region.

The local powerful figures and those pirates were in cahoots.

Axel then stepped forward and patted Glenn on the shoulder: "Brother Glenn, the Earl knows all this... Let me explain the rest."

"Go ahead and say it." Vio didn't dismiss Axel's suggestion; after all, everyone has their own expertise, and pirates are the ones who understand pirates best.

"The Elifis brothers also said that while being chased by that group of pirates, they managed to extract important information from another group of pirates."

"The pirate leaders in the West have decided to launch an attack on the South during the summer," Axel said in a deliberately mysterious tone, which made the pirates burst into laughter.

"Of course, Your Excellency, you can rest assured. With us Black Pearls here, those pirates won't be able to get into the Southern Territory!"

"Don't worry, Your Excellency!"

The pirates also joined in the commotion.

Vio simply chuckled, showing no fear on his face.

He had naturally guessed the thoughts of the pirates in the Western Territory long ago; or rather, it would be strange if they had no designs on the Southern Territory at all.

The kingdom has stabilized, and the capital will inevitably take action against the western border sooner or later. They cannot simply stay there and wait to die.

And I will make preparations in advance.