Lord: I can see loyalty.

"Sand Wolf..."

In a house near the edge of the village, Vio and the others sat around a table, all with solemn expressions except for Vio.

Jimmy, Xavier, Gina, and others were summoned by Vio, while another guard led the militia to patrol and guard the area around the village.

Sand wolves are extremely cunning creatures. Although they are not strong individually, they usually act in groups and are extremely intelligent.

Vio frowned slightly; he had actually forgotten about this species.

Because they are extremely intelligent, sand wolves generally do not provoke humans. They usually attack lone humans and animals in these desolate wilderness areas during periods when their natural predators are less active.

However... there seem to be quite a few lone humans this year.

Jimmy and his companions didn't look too good; they had all heard about the Sand Wolf's cunning.

Unlike them, Vio seemed completely unconcerned.

He believed in the militia's training results, and at worst, there were still people like Jimmy Gina.

"My lord, the militia who discovered the sand wolves have arrived."

"Bring it up."

Vio waved to the militiamen who had reported the news, then sat quietly on the wooden chair in the middle.

Not long after, a middle-aged man entered the house, led by another militiaman.

The other person had long, silver-white hair, and his gray eyes were as cold as ice. The scar on his left eye seemed to say, "Keep away."

Vio opened his eyes slightly, somewhat intrigued. The appearance resembled a character from one of the fantasy games he had played in his previous life.

Name: Gertó

Race: Human

Age: 57

[Hobbies: Hunting, playing cards, and enjoying expensive drinks]

【Characteristics: Combat experience, hunting experience, intermediate basic swordsmanship, throwing proficiency, strong will, taciturn】

Loyalty: 70%

"Your name is...Geralt?"

When Vio called out his name, Gertó's expression changed slightly, but he quickly returned to normal: "Yes, my lord."

"You weren't among the first to join the militia, were you? You used to be a hunter, weren't you?"

Vio was certain that although he had been somewhat lazy when inspecting the militia, he couldn't have missed such a master.

Furthermore, he did not believe that the other party was just an ordinary hunter, since combat experience and hunting experience are clearly not the same thing.

Gertó's expression turned serious as he realized that the young lord before him was no ordinary man. He was indeed not among the first to join, after all, he had only considered it a noble's pipe dream at the time.

He didn't join the militia until their training actually started to progress and seemed quite effective.

As for his own identity...

"That's right, my lord. I was recruited by Xavier during the second recruitment of militia," Gerthold said after a pause, as if he had made up his mind.

"When I was young, I served in the Kingdom's army for a period of time. Later, I was wounded and returned to Bordeaux village to become a hunter."

Vio's eyes lit up. He glanced at Xavier and nodded in satisfaction, then changed the subject.

"I understand. Now, tell me about the sand wolves."

Gertrude was taken aback, somewhat surprised that the other party did not continue to ask questions, but quickly said in a solemn voice.

"During training in the afternoon, I spotted what appeared to be sand wolves. After receiving permission from the team leader, I went to investigate on my own."

"Sand wolves are very cunning creatures. They observe their targets before hunting, which can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks, during which time they will deliberately hide their feces and tracks."

As he spoke, Gertó even took a small bag out of his pocket.

"This is the sand wolf droppings from back then. It looks like they belonged to a wolf cub, who probably forgot to hide them after getting separated from the pack."

Jimmy and Xavier went over to take a look, but obviously couldn't figure out anything. Vio and Gina, on the other hand, didn't look at the sand wolf droppings.

Vio knew he couldn't see anything wrong with it, and besides, he had no interest in looking at excrement.

"Put the bag away," Gertrude continued.

"I then followed the trail, but it disappeared halfway through!"

"Disappeared? What happened?" Vio raised an eyebrow, already guessing the answer in his mind.

"It's likely that the wolf cub has returned to its pack, which means that the pack isn't far from the village, and may even have been observing it all along."

Vio rested his chin on his hand, thought for a moment, and then replied, "I understand."

"Jimmy, Xavier, you and Ansquie will take turns leading a militia patrol overnight to watch out for those sand wolves."

"Yes, ma'am."

Watching Jimmy and the other man leave, Vio looked at Gertrude again.

"Gertor, you should go back and rest early. Tomorrow I will personally lead the team to exterminate the sand wolves. You have experience hunting sand wolves, right? I'll leave the command to you."

Gertrude was not surprised. He nodded solemnly and got up to leave.

……

The next day, outside the village of New Bordeaux.

"Everyone, you should all know the purpose of our trip!"

Vio rode on the only horse in the village, wearing simple Southern-style iron armor, with Gina and Galto beside him.

"Exterminate the sand wolves! Exterminate the sand wolves!"

The militiamen below raised their spears, forged by the village blacksmith, and responded loudly and passionately.

Apart from the militia on night watch, Vio brought the other two along.

If you look closely, you'll find that Jimmy is also among them.

In fact, Vio had told Jimmy that they only needed to rest today, but Jimmy insisted on participating in the hunt.

Vio sighed, then rallied his spirits and shouted, "Let's go!"

Because it was already winter, the desert was not hot, and the militia members, having undergone training, found the march quite easy.

Gertó was at the front of the group, carefully observing the clues left by the sand wolves.

Stop.

Seeing that Gertóu at the front suddenly raised his hand, Vio quickly gave the order.

The militia came to a stop as neatly and quickly as they had during training.

Vio dismounted and, with Gina holding his hand, carefully approached Galto.

"My lord, it's over there," Gertó said in a low voice, pointing to the bushes not far away.

Vio squinted, but couldn't see anything, so he could only say helplessly.

"What are you planning to do next? Those sand wolves will run away when they hear the noise, right?"

Gertó answered, his gaze still fixed on the bushes.

"That's right, but don't worry, they won't be able to detect us at this distance. I'll lure the sand wolves out next, and you can have the militia form an encirclement."

"Seduce?" Vio was a little stunned, not expecting it to be so simple and direct.

But he did not question this approach, since it was unrealistic to think that the sand wolves could completely surround the thicket, given their cunning.

Soon, under Vio and Jimmy's command, the militia, in two-person squads, lay in ambush on the outside of the bushes, their movements concealed by the sound of the wind and sand.

After confirming that the scene had quieted down, Gertó gripped the hilt of his sword at his waist and cautiously approached the bushes step by step.

Sure enough, as Gertrude approached, there seemed to be some noises coming from the bushes, but there was no action.

Gertrude understood that the safe distance he had deliberately maintained had alerted these cunning creatures.

"Looks like I need to leave a loophole..."

Gertó muttered to himself, moving a little closer to the bushes, his muscles tense.

The next moment, just as he expected, a figure rushed out of the bushes, and a beastly mouth that looked no different from that of an ordinary wolfhound bit at Gertrude's throat!

Gertó had anticipated this; he could easily kill the sand wolf at this distance, but he didn't. Instead, he quickly rolled backward.

The moment he made a movement, several sand wolves rushed out of the bushes and pounced on his previous spot.

The sand wolves instinctively began tearing at each other in place, but soon discovered that the human did not act as expected.

Gertó quickly drew his sword and beheaded the first sand wolf. His eyes swept over the sand wolves that kept appearing, and finally he shouted.

"Enough! My lord, that's all!"

The moment he shouted, Vio also drew his iron sword and yelled back.

"Surround the sand wolves, don't let them escape, cover Gertó first!"

Although the militia were far from the Sand Wolf, their numbers were enough to form an encirclement, so there was no need to worry about the Sand Wolf escaping.

The biggest problem now is Gertrude's safety!

But Vio soon discovered that his worries were unnecessary.

Gertó skillfully distanced himself from the wolves, each sword strike hitting a vital spot on a sand wolf, causing some to retreat in fear.

After observing for a while, a sand wolf that was even faster and obviously larger charged at Gertrude.

This is the alpha wolf of this pack of sand wolves!

Led by their leader, several sand wolves pounced on Gertó, as if to tear him to pieces.

But Gertó remained calm. He nimbly rolled to the side, dodging the wolf king's attack, and then used only a few sword strikes to incapacitate the other sand wolves.

The wolf king still wanted to fight to the death, but the militiamen had already surrounded them, maintaining their distance while plunging their spears into the bodies of the sand wolves.

"Aww!"

……

With Vio personally severing the wolf king's head after its last struggle, the hunt came to an end.

Apart from the tenacious wolf king injuring several militiamen during its struggle, the other sand wolves caused almost no damage.

Jimmy, somewhat incredulous, stepped forward to report to Vio.

"My lord, the sand wolf pack has been completely wiped out!"

Vio nodded in satisfaction, walked over to Gertrude, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Well done, Gertrude."

"You flatter me, my lord," Gertó said with a faint smile, then added earnestly.

"My lord, I have counted them. There were 52 sand wolves in total, and without exception, they have all been wiped out."

Vio looked at the "hunter" who was over fifty years old and knew that this man was a very skilled fighter.

Unlike Vio, Jimmy was staring at the militia in disbelief.

Contrary to his expectations, the militia performed exceptionally well. Although the enemy was not human, they cooperated seamlessly during the hunt, maintaining their formation even when injured.

Looking again at Vio, who was surrounded by militiamen, Jimmy realized that this young lord was no less capable than his father.