In an estate on the outskirts of Mayo Town, despite it being deep into the night, the log cabin was still brightly lit.
"Seven! Seven! Seven!"
"Oh no, why is it a five!"
"If you're out, stand aside and don't block the way."
Huddled at the door, Lauren's face was gloomy, pulling his body into the wool blanket his mother had sewn for him to ward off the cold.
With the back of his head resting against the door fra, he could clearly hear the sound of dice shaking by his father, a leather artisan.
The foul sll of stinky socks, the scent of alcohol, the rancid odor of grease as a supplent, with the stench of vomit as the main course, countless slls seeped through the door gap, swirling around Lauren's nose.
These 800 rcenaries had been stationed in Mayo Town for over three months, specially left here by order to guard the exit of Blackbone Marsh.
Originally, Prince Kongdai had left them here rely to alert and intercept, preventing this group of short hairs from escaping again.
At first, these rcenaries were okay, just occasionally engaged in petty theft or left without paying for als.
But later on, especially with so rumors and hearsay about Grand Duke Moliat spreading, the situation gradually began to go awry.
They started illegally setting up casinos outside the town, enticing townspeople to gamble, then offering loans at high interest rates, subsequently forcing people to sell their children, hos, or fields.
Under threat by their swords and knives, the entire Mayo Town had to abandon other orders and provide 300 helts for them free of charge.
The rcenaries' leader, Cléante, went further by using the casino and high-interest loans to turn a dozen young girls from Mayo Town into Liu Ying, forcing them to receive guests to pay off debts.
Damned Cléante, when on earth are you leaving!
Salvation Army of Gouzao, when on earth are you coming!
The door of the log cabin was opened, and a wave of hot stench hit face.
A drunken mountain rcenary kicked Lauren to ensure he wasn't dead: "Hey, what are you dazing out for!"
Shivering, Lauren stood up with his head hanging low: "Do you need sothing?"
"What kind of tone is that!" The mountain man slapped Lauren, causing him to stagger back two steps, "Master Cléante is itching, go to the bird cage and call over a couple of girls."
At this mont, Lauren's father also poked his head out of the cabin: "Lauren! Are you itching again, didn't you hear him?"
"Got it."
Lauren's fingers dug into the slits between the floorboards in the cabin, clenching his teeth, he tried to hide his anger in his trembling voice.
"Really useless." Lauren's father pulled his head back in, picking up the dice again.
Walking forward stumbling under the dim starlight, Lauren moved ahead.
Once he was doing well as a tailor's apprentice at Joan of Arc Castle, but was forcibly taken back ho by this old newcor who stord into the teacher's house, smashed things up, and demanded a refund of the tuition.
Had he known it would be like this, he should have gone to Blackbone Marsh with the Salvation Army!
Walking despondently in the wild, the rustle of bushes sounded like coyotes were prowling.
Walking towards the vicinity of the "bird cage" with resentnt and sorrow, his chanical pace suddenly paused for a half-second.
For so reason, he slled a pungent scent of blood, seeming both distant and alarmingly close.
Is it a coyote?
No, such a strong scent of blood must an a large beast is near.
Despite not knowing what had happened, Lauren knew this was the ti to run.
He took a few more steps forward, acting as if he noticed nothing, then suddenly turned a corner, running straight into the small woods.
After all, it was vast land outside, and if he encounters a large beast, there'd be nowhere to run.
"Stop!"
"Damn goat!"
Lauren hadn't run more than two steps before his ankle was suddenly grabbed by soone, and another robust man with the sll of fox tackled him from behind, pinning him firmly to the ground.
"Gua, let go, let go uuuhhh—"
A rag was stuffed into his mouth, and powerlessly kicking and punching, he was flipped over, finally seeing the n before him clearly.
They were both dressed in simple linen and animal skin outfits, with a pair of furry gray beast ears on each side of their heads.
Beastn!
Lauren struggled even harder; there were quite a few beastman bandits in Thousand River Valley, though Joan of Arc Castle had none before.
However, ever since the church took over Joan of Arc Castle, they've been entangled with the Royal Constitution Knight and distant relatives of Duke Dane, leaving no ti to maintain law and order, leading to the ergence of many beastman bandits in previously stable areas around Joan of Arc Castle.
Two beastn pinned down Lauren's limbs, and amidst his constant struggle, hoisted him onto their shoulder, running in small steps toward the "birdcage."
Carried on the shoulder, Lauren stopped struggling and instead of wasting energy, he began observing his surroundings, looking for a chance to escape.
To his surprise, these two beastman robbers actually took him inside the birdcage.
What t his eyes were the dead and wounded, all of whom were the birdcage's guards, lined up on the ground were the guards' corpses.
To Lauren's surprise, the won inside the birdcage were not subjected to any abuse; they sat under coats to one side, with a priest specifically comforting them.
Inside this birdcage, there were soldiers specifically maintaining order and silently leaning against the walls to rest, wearing shiny silver breastplates and neat black and red coats.
Were they bandits?
Before Lauren could figure it out, among the patrolling black-coated soldiers, he saw a familiar figure.
Juer Dan, the street cloth vendor, wore a black coat and looked much more spirited and robust than before.
"Mmm—" Lauren instantly understood, this was the Salvation Army, the Salvation Army had arrived.
Lauren's constant struggle caught the attention of Juer Dan, who was the brigade commander. Curious, he walked over, and then exclaid in surprise, "Lauren? Is it you, Lauren?"
Once the rag was removed from his mouth, Lauren's first words were, "I know where Cléante is!"
Cléante gulped down the honeyed butter wine, drunkenly tossed the dice onto the table, and looked smugly at the few gamblers wailing.
Even when drunk, he could still perfectly control the dice.
"It's all about value, this is the value of a gambling god in Seven Elm Town. Do your dice have that kind of value?"
Laughing loudly, Cléante gathered the chips on the table to his chest one by one.
After wandering outside for so long, Cléante finally enjoyed a period of relatively peaceful life.
Since Prince Kongdai and Banifus ford a verbal alliance, he interceded with the royal agent to whom Cléante owed money, extending Cléante's repaynt period.
This undoubtedly gave him more ti to maneuver, but after all, it was just an extension; Cléante still had to repay the debt.
Mayo Town wasn't prosperous, but if one knows how to make money, it could cover a large chunk of the interest.
Initially, he just wanted to use small casinos to gradually gain ground, as he needed to respect Grand Duke Moliat.
But recently he heard rumors that Grand Duke Moliat had started a rebellion under the banner of fighting church corruption.
Alright, alright, this young man wants to play this way, huh?
Cléante almost laughed himself into a stupor, and that day he increased the stakes, also opening the "birdcage."
Thinking of this, he kicked over Lauren's father, who was sorting out chips pathetically few in number, and asked, "Hey, where's your son? Did he run away?"
Propped up by a chair, Lauren's father kneeled slightly on the ground, replied timidly and ingratiatingly, "How would he have the courage for that? Might've been chewed up by coyotes. If you're in a hurry, I'll go find him for you."
"Never mind," Cléante waved his hand, yawning, "I'm going to take a leak. Continue playing without ; don't mind ."
Walking out of the cabin, the chilly spring breeze brushed his face, sobering him up a bit.
"Iris, iris, blooms again and again."
"The iris blooms at ho, my little boy grows into a big lump..."
Circling to the back of the cabin, humming a hotown vulgar tune, he unbuckled his pants, relieving himself.
The chirping of birds reached his ears, while in the camp, dogs whimpered, and everything at night felt so quiet.
So quiet.
Cléante's humming abruptly stopped, years of battlefield experience made his hairs stand upright.
His whole body froze for a mont, forcing himself to hold the remaining third of his urine, hurriedly pulling up his pants and ran to the front of the house, holding onto the wall.
"Hey, everyone co out, go check by the sentry—"
"Lord Cléante, what did you say?"
"I said—"
"Whoosh—"
Cléante first felt sothing fly past his head, and not until it flew past did he belatedly shrink his neck suddenly.
A warm liquid trickled down his cheek, a tingling pain from one side of his head.
He instinctively reached to touch his right ear, but felt nothing; his ear had disappeared without his knowing when.
Not even having a mont to mourn his lost ear, Cléante turned and ran back the way he'd co.
"Enemy attack! Quickly, sound the horn, sound the horn!"
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