Lord: I can see loyalty.

"Um!"

The girl blushed and lowered her head after hearing what he said. She quickly left Xavier's side and hurried back into the crowd.

Xavier scratched his head, somewhat puzzled, and then walked back to where he had come down, about to call out to Gertrude.

"Wait, are you leaving now?" the old man suddenly called out to Xavier, and slowly walked towards him.

"Well, we'll first take those who are willing to follow the lord away from here, since it's still quite dangerous here."

Xavier stared warily at the old man's gnarled staff, still somewhat afraid of the man's identity as a magician.

That was a fear of the powerful unknown.

Unlike swordsmanship and brute force, which he could understand, magic was powerful and mysterious. He even wondered if those magicians might not be human...

"I see. Then I'd better hurry up and pack up..." the old man said to himself, brushing past him.

"Packing up... Could it be that you're also coming with us to see the lord?"

"That's right, after all, it's been a while since I've seen Bordeaux." The old man's voice always carried a smile, making it hard to tell whether it was out of goodwill or sarcasm.

Xavier's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he was genuinely delighted: magicians may be mysterious and unpredictable, but their power is undeniable! With this old man's help, Lord, the strength of Bordeaux Village will be greatly enhanced.

After a flurry of activity and noise, Xavier quickly led the refugee group up the slope to meet the waiting militia.

The militia members were also dumbfounded, not expecting to gather so many people in one go. Looking at Xavier and the girl and old man beside him, Gertó couldn't help but admire the young man.

The large militia and refugee group soon embarked on their journey back to the village.

……

"Remember this, everyone: in actual combat, the enemy will often not let you complete a set of sword techniques smoothly."

In the training grounds of Bordeaux village, Jimmy is explaining things to the new recruits who have recently joined the militia.

"You need to be flexible, for example..." Jimmy was interrupted by a shout from Ansque in the distance before he could finish speaking.

"Jimmy! The lord has summoned you!"

"You can practice on your own for now." Jimmy waved to the militiamen and jogged over to Ansquey.

"Was there any explanation about what it was about?"

Ansquie, with his tall frame, shrugged and shook his head. Jimmy didn't ask any more questions, and the two quickly arrived at the mansion's gate.

"Greetings, Lord."

"Please sit down." Vio was looking at the map on the table without looking up.

"Cohen found a village that was still fighting bandits."

After they sat down, Vio got straight to the point, then added, "The village isn't very big, so there aren't many invading bandits, making it a perfect first target for us."

As he spoke, he placed the map where everyone could see it and pointed to a small village surrounding Bordeaux.

"Kuoqiao Village?" Ansquie uttered the rather unfamiliar place name.

"That's right, it's said that there's an incredibly large bridge in this village, hence the name," Vio continued. "Let Cohen tell you the details."

After saying that, Cohen, who had been silent, stepped forward and said in a steady and clear voice: "The villagers of Kuoqiao Village usually live on the west side of the bridge, and the east side was completely occupied after the bandits invaded."

"But because the only passage between the two sides was this giant bridge, the bandits were unable to completely take over the village for a long time."

Vio nodded, stood up, and said, "And here's our chance. Bordeaux is located just west of Château de la Château. We don't need to lure those bandits; we just need to set up an ambush on the bridge..."

"Those bandits will take the bait."

After he finished speaking, the room was quiet for a moment. Jimmy and the other man stared at the fine bridge markings on the map and nodded silently.

Vio placed his hand on the map: "Xavier and Gertrude haven't returned yet, and Broadbridge Village can't wait for them to come back either."

"Cohen will communicate with those villagers and cooperate with them. Jimmy, you lead the archers and the main force to guard the western bridgehead." Vio then looked to the side: "Ansquie, you lead the remaining militia to ambush on the other side. Don't let anyone escape."

Without a word, the two captains exchanged a glance, stood up simultaneously, and respectfully bowed in response.

"Yes, my lord."

After the two left, Cohen also set off ahead to Broadbridge Village to prepare for meeting up with Jimmy Ansquey and the others.

A day later, Jimmy and Ansquie led the militia out again, their first offensive since the recapture of Bordeaux village.

This time, Vio did not lead the army himself; he was sitting in his magnificent lord's chair, waiting for Xavier and Gertrude to bring their new subjects.

Meanwhile, a kilometer away at night, in a village shrouded in blood, lies Kuoqiao Village.

A burly, robust man in his early twenties was leaning on a giant sword, breathing slightly heavily. His face showed no emotion other than exhaustion.

Several scattered bandit corpses lay on the ground, all of them severed at the waist and beheaded, their deaths gruesome.

Standing beside him was a tall, thin swordsman, also covered in blood, clearly having just been through a fierce battle.

"Glen, are you alright?" The tall, thin man spoke first, shaking the blood off his blade and sheathing it.

"Um."

Glenn slung the greatsword back over his shoulder, his face expressionless.

They were among the few remaining soldiers in Kuoqiao Village.

"It is said that most of the villagers have already agreed to pledge allegiance to the lord of Bordeaux Village in exchange for protection. What do you plan to do?" The tall, thin man was clearly not as strong as Glenn, and he sat down in the blood pool without caring.

"Lord... I don't care, but are the villagers planning to abandon Broadbridge Village?" Glenn's expression changed slightly when Broadbridge Village was mentioned.

The tall, thin man waved his hand: "No, it's said that the lord intends to take over Broadbridge Village, that's what his messenger said."

Hearing this, Glenn looked at his companion with some doubt: "He intends to fight these bandits?"

The tall, thin man seemed exhausted and didn't speak again, only nodding in response with his head down.

Glenn slowly lowered his head, looking at his blood-soaked body. His tall frame stood like a stone statue in the night. After a long while, he finally spoke in a deep voice.

"Let's go take a look."

Two figures stepped over the corpses, passed through the desolate eastern side of the village, and headed towards the giant bridge. At the same time, on the other side of the bridge, Jimmy and Ansquie had already led the militia to the village of Broadbridge.

Under Jimmy's command, the cloaked archers began to draw their bows and lie in ambush, while Ansquie and the militiamen hid under the eastern bridge, weapons in hand, waiting for the enemy to arrive.