Lord: I can see loyalty.

Bordeaux village, perched on a cliff.

The villagers crowded behind the militiamen on duty, curiously observing the group of rough-looking pirates setting up camp on the beach below.

The pirates, who were being stared at as if it were a rare spectacle, were also somewhat annoyed, muttering under their breath, "What do you mean by 'it might frighten the villagers and we can't let them in'? Our leader actually agreed to that?"

"Gentlemen, what's gotten into you?" Just as the pirates were feeling sullen, a mocking voice came from the forest, and Axel walked out carrying a full bag.

"Axel! I thought you'd been tricked by that lord!" Upon seeing their leader, the pirates became excited again, but their eyes were fixed on the bag in his hand.

"Is this all there are 50 gold coins...?" Scarface stepped forward, weighed the bag in his hand, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Look at your pathetic self," sneered an old pirate nearby. "You've taken on bigger jobs before... Oh right, I think you weren't on board yet back then."

"No." Axel removed the bag from Scarface's hand and shook his head. "Here are 10. The remaining 30 will be given after this job is finished."

Scarface's face immediately fell, but then his expression changed: "Wait, wasn't it 50? Including those 30, it's only 40 gold coins in total!"

"That's right." Axel grinned and nodded.

The pirates looked at each other, wondering if their leader had really been fooled by the lord. Why was he happy about losing money?

"I only charged them 40 gold coins," Axel explained unhurriedly. "The condition was that they would protect Keslow Village at the same time, since that Connor guy is very close to Keslow."

Upon hearing this, the pirates nodded in realization.

"What a coincidence..."

Inside the mansion, Vio looked at Connor's approximate stronghold on the map and discussed with him the village of Keslow that he wanted to protect.

The two places are less than a kilometer apart, but that's normal.

After all, Connor was skilled in naval warfare, and the area he occupied was naturally by the sea. As for Keslow Village, it goes without saying that it was pirate territory.

Next, all that's left is to wait...

Vio leaned back in the lord's chair and closed her eyes, while Gina quietly stepped forward and covered her with a thin blanket.

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, four militia teams stood neatly in front of Jimmy's Noodles, each with a militia captain in full armor in front of them.

Jimmy was wearing a full set of knight's plate armor, which Vio had Old Barton make to resemble the only knight's armor in the village. On Jimmy, it really looked like the real thing.

"Everyone, remember this: prioritize finding Connor, and remember what he looks like!" Jimmy held up a portrait.

The face in the portrait was surprisingly young, even handsome, like the protagonist of various adventure poems, but the militiamen all knew that this face belonged to the bloodthirsty Border Wolf Connor.

"Set off!"

Led by Jimmy, four militia teams of about a hundred men began their march toward Baikal, a village under Connor's control.

On the other side, above the sea.

Several slender black ships were approaching a coastal village at full speed, led by the pirate captain Axel.

His gaze was fixed on the small village whose outline was already faintly visible in the distance, and several dilapidated warships were even moored at the dock.

"This piece of junk can be called a warship?" Masane, standing to the side, also sneered while staring into the distance.

"It's been a while since we've made a move in the Southern Territory..." Axel slowly drew his curved scimitar from his waist, then his voice suddenly rose: "These guys are all bandits, let's go, men!"

"Enemy attack! From the sea!"

The attacked coastal village of Bermant erupted in shouts as bandits, armed with bows and swords, rushed to the shore and blindly fired arrows at the approaching shadows.

Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!

Countless arrows flew toward the slender black ship, but most of them landed on the sea. A few that managed to hit the hull were blocked by the round shields that covered the ship's bow.

"Useless trash!"

Before the terrified bandits could draw their bows again, and seeing the black ship approaching the land, Massane roared and leaped from the bow of the ship several meters away, crashing into the enemy ranks like a boulder, crushing an archer beneath him.

"Monster...monster!" The bandit captain, seemingly in charge of leading the group of archers, gritted his teeth and stood firm, hissing as he ordered, "How dare he come ashore alone! Kill him first!"

But when he turned around, half of the archers had already fled, and the rest were even more hesitant and dared not go forward.

call--!

Masane swung his broadsword, and the bandit captain's head fell to the ground with a thud, his face still showing terror.

Seeing their captain fall, the others tried to run back, but it was too late. The black ship had officially docked, and pirates wielding sharp blades disembarked and slowly approached them.

Axel plunged the scimitar at his waist into the body of the bandit who still dared to fight him to the death, shoved him to the ground and trampled him underfoot, and stared at the bandits as he spoke.

"Hey, any of you guys, has anyone seen that Connor guy before?"

Before long, the coastal village of Bermant was engulfed in flames, and screams of agony echoed throughout the village.

The village of Baikal on the other side.

Under Jimmy's command, the militia split into two groups to surround the small village, while the remaining two groups, including the elite team, stormed into the village.

Jimmy, leading the way, moved through the area as if it were empty. The approaching bandits couldn't even scratch him; their inferior swords couldn't penetrate the entire set of knight's plate armor!

Jimmy didn't linger on fighting the henchmen, but instead searched for Connor. However, even after most of the bandits dropped their weapons and surrendered, he still hadn't seen his target.

"Just as Lord, you guessed, this guy is terrified of death." Jimmy sheathed his sword and took the map from the militiaman, looking at the map showing Connor's territory.

Compared to Connor, Sean's strength was less than half of Connor's. Connor not only had hundreds of bandits and a fleet, but also controlled five villages.

Two of the five villages are located by the sea, and together with the other two, they completely surround the village of Delro in the middle.

According to Ken's intelligence and Vio's speculation, Connor is most likely in this Delro village.

"Commander, all bandits have been eliminated!"

Jimmy's thoughts were interrupted by the militia captain's report. He nodded slightly, put away the map, and raised his sword.

"Send a vanguard back to Bordeaux to report, and at the same time, as the lord instructed, have people search for refugees in the surrounding area who are willing to pledge their allegiance to the lord!"

In the lord's mansion in Bordeaux village, a thousand miles away.

Vio sat high on his lord's chair, one hand supporting his chin, watching with great interest the wandering knight who claimed to have pledged allegiance to him.

"I am Hunter Shaw, and I pledge my loyalty to you, to rid your territory of bandits!" The wandering knight said earnestly, kneeling on one knee before him.

However, Vio merely smiled wryly; he paid no heed to the other party's sincere expression and words. All Vio saw was the other party's actual interface information:

Name: Hunter Shaw

Race: Human

Age: 27

[Faction: Bandit Border Wolf Connor's subordinate]

Hobbies: Sword practice, sports, killing, toying with enemies

[Characteristics: Stealth, Endurance, Lying, Advanced Basic Swordsmanship]

Loyalty: Not loyal to you