Lord: I can see loyalty.

Just as Vio was about to leave and return to Bordeaux to arrange the next tasks, a somewhat familiar shout stopped him.

"My Lord Earl!"

In a small hut surrounding the group of craftsmen and blacksmiths, a strong figure rushed out, waving his arms in their direction.

"Ryan?" Vio narrowed his eyes slightly, recognizing the newcomer.

He was none other than Ryan, an old craftsman and fellow apprentice of Patton.

Despite not having seen him for so long, the other party hadn't changed at all; he still looked like a dusty, disheveled craftsman.

"Greetings, Your Excellency." Ryan bowed respectfully, showing no lack of etiquette.

"Since you're here, it seems you're in charge of shipbuilding?"

Vio's gaze fell on the few small speedboats not far away, and behind them was a large warship that was half-built.

Although it is not yet completed, it is already very impressive.

"No... that's not it, Your Excellency." Ryan shook his head somewhat awkwardly, and continued, "I have very little experience in shipbuilding. I've only been learning by doing from the experienced crew on the Black Pearl."

Vio didn't say much, which was normal. Although the Southern Territory is located by the sea, it lacks resources and hasn't developed any ocean-related technologies.

As for shipbuilding technology, there are hardly any written records; it is only in the hands of experienced veterans.

"Where's old Patton? Didn't he come?" Vio asked, glancing around at the group of craftsmen and blacksmiths.

"Your Excellency," Ryan nodded, "Old Barton is leading the blacksmith camp to deal with magic ore deep in the desert, and I haven't seen him for some time."

Vio didn't ask any more questions, but simply waved his hand to indicate that the other party could leave, and walked towards the group of new sailors.

He did not intend to interrupt their training, so he stopped before he came into their view and quickly looked at the nearest few veteran sailors.

The panels were brought up one by one.

【Characteristics: High alcohol tolerance, extensive swimming experience, extensive experience in sea combat, and extensive sailing experience】

Clearly, this man was a veteran pirate from the Black Pearl, with extensive experience in combat and at sea.

He then turned his gaze to several clearly new sailors from the Southern Territory.

【Features: High endurance, beginner level swimming, beginner level naval combat, basic swordsmanship】

"How is it, Count? Not bad, is it?" Axel noticed Vio observing and slowly walked up behind him to ask.

He just shook his head. "It's alright, but we need to speed things up."

Axel simply smiled and nodded at Vio without replying.

Vio did not linger there, and soon returned to the village entrance, got into the carriage, and began his return journey to Portol.

At the same time, he sent a messenger to summon Cohen of the Brotherhood to the Earl's Castle to await orders, as he already had a new mission.

Half an hour later in the Earl's Castle, Vio was once again seated on a high chair, with Cohen and his trusted confidants Vance and Sloan in front of him.

"Greetings, Your Excellency. What are your orders, Your Excellency?" After performing the formalities, Cohen quickly stood up and looked at Vio with a serious expression.

"The messengers should have already informed you about the situation in the western border."

"That's right, sir."

When Vio sent people to summon Cohen, he also took the opportunity to tell them about the pirates in the West.

"Since that's the case, I won't go into too much detail. Let me tell you the mission directly." Vio stood up from his high chair and walked towards the round table.

Finally, he stopped in front of the table, placed his hand on the map of the Kingdom of Rovia on the round table, and slowly drew a line from the location of Portor City to the direction of the western border.

"We can't just sit here and wait for those Western pirates to come knocking on our door."

"It's already late winter. Since the enemy will make their move in the summer, we need to act even earlier." Vio looked at the map, a deeper meaning in his eyes: "After all, intelligence from the summer may not be accurate."

"We need all kinds of intelligence... Ever since those pirates in the West started running rampant, the kingdom has been practically without any information about the West."

"However, similarly, we don't know much about the pirates in the West either. They may still be stuck in the time when the South was occupied by bandits."

Vio's words were not unfounded, after all, the banditry in the southern border had caused quite a stir before, and the pirates in the western border could not possibly be unaware of it.

After the bandits were wiped out by Vio, with the Black Pearl pirates and the Brotherhood on guard, those pirates had no chance to infiltrate the Southern Territory, whether by land or sea.

At most, they knew that a new earl had emerged in the southern border, and thus inferred that the bandit problem had diminished.

Vio cleared his throat, looked up at Cohen, and continued, "Of course, the Western Territory is not as peaceful as the capital."

"No matter what, we're under the control of enemies and pirates, and we're not as safe as the king, so we have to be extremely careful with this operation."

"I will arrange for you to command several elite Azure Peak Knights and Black Pearl Pirates. As for what identity you use to enter the Western Territory, that's your responsibility," Vio said in a deep voice as he approached Cohen, patted him on the shoulder.

"I believe you can do it, Cohen."

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

"Yes, sir!" Vance and the other man replied in unison.

…………

Western border, Frido Port.

This is the easternmost port city in the Westerlands, bordering the Southerlands, and is also a city occupied by Philip, the pirate leader of the Westerlands.

Because it was occupied by pirates, the once bustling and important port is now very deserted, with only their own people from the western border coming and going.

In this atmosphere, the pirates under Philip's command who were in charge of the inspection were also somewhat listless, only glancing briefly at the passing crowd.

But at that very moment, from the direction of the southern border, a small group of fully armed men were brazenly and noisily heading this way.

They wore light armor, typical of the central Kingdom of Rovia, designed for movement in the forest, and carried rough machetes or longswords with notched blades at their waists or in their hands.

But it's clear from their demeanor that they are not a group of weaklings.

"stop!"

A tall, somewhat obese pirate with sharp eyes noticed the group of incongruous newcomers, cautiously gripped the large axe behind him, and carefully stepped forward.

At the head of the group was a man with a typical southern appearance, his face bearing the marks of wind and sand.

That is indeed Vanse.

"Who are you? Where are you from?" The fat pirate winked at his henchmen behind him, signaling them to surround the group of visitors.

Sloan, standing next to Vance, frowned as if he was about to curse, but before he could speak, Vance stopped him and spoke first.

"We came from the Black Forest on the northern border, the Gray Hyena Mercenary Group. Never heard of them?"

Vance's attitude was not conciliatory; he also looked ready to fight.

The "Grey Hyena Mercenary Group" he mentioned was actually the attackers Count Vio encountered when he went to the capital.

After interrogation, Vio learned most of the details about the other party. They operated in the Black Forest of the South or North for many years and were quite well-known.

This would be perfect as one of the fraternity's disguised identities.

"Blackwood... Grey Hyena?" The fat pirate turned his head and exchanged a glance with his companion; clearly, neither of them had ever heard of it.

That's normal, since pirates rarely operate in that area, and besides, they were just a group of "gatekeepers".

"Are you fucking letting us through or not?! Our brothers are still busy getting the work done!"

Sloan feigned impatience, and the Azure Knight disguised as a mercenary behind him also uttered a few curses.

The pirates looked at each other, then quickly huddled together and whispered among themselves before making a decision.

Although they were of low status and only possessed martial prowess, the leader had instructed them on how to handle such situations.

When dealing with neutral forces from the southern border or elsewhere in the kingdom, it is essential to cultivate good relations with them as much as possible.

After all, this will be a great help in dealing with the Southern Territory or the Kingdom in the future.

The only problem is how to prove their identities.

The obese pirate scratched his head vigorously, and finally stepped forward, asking in a calm tone.

"Um... everyone, please calm down. We in the Western Territory welcome friends, but how can you prove that you are a so-called mercenary group and our friends?"

Upon hearing this, the Azure Knight among the mercenaries also tightened his grip on the longsword at his waist, staring intently at his opponent, ready to strike.

Vance, however, remained calm and took out the preparations he had made long ago.

A bag of coins.

"This is a small token of our labor for those bandits in the Southern Territory." He walked up to the obese pirate and placed the money in his hand. "A small token of our appreciation..."

The obese pirate finally grinned, slightly opened the pouch for a glance, then stuffed the money pouch into his waistband, coughed loudly, and said, "Not bad, definitely a mercenary."

"Let them through!"