Chapter 1063 - 874: Patrol
The Earl’s gaze lingered on Baron for a moment, and he nodded slightly. It was hard to tell if he was satisfied or just going through the motions.
He raised his hand, signaling Baron to step aside, then he stood up with both hands on the armrests of the chair, his voice coarse and steady as it echoed throughout the hall: "The Rebel Army has taken Stone Crown City. Their next likely target is Grey Rock City. Most of my forces will be used for frontal defense. We don’t have enough personnel, so I need you adventurers to help me with a task. Along the path from Cadwell Territory to Grey Rock City, perform surveillance patrols in sections.
If you spot any suspicious individuals or spies from the Rebel Army, report back immediately. If this task is done well, the reward will be substantial. If any of you manage to bring back valuable intelligence, there will be a special bonus aside from the reward."
After the Earl finished speaking, the adventurers in the hall began to whisper amongst themselves.
A middle-aged man carrying double axes, standing ahead on the right side of the Duke, turned back and murmured to his companion, mentioning that when he passed by Stone Crown City last week, the Earl’s flag was still hanging on the city wall. How did it fall so quickly?
Someone beside him responded in a lowered voice, saying that after the Rebel Army captured Stone Crown City, they barely lingered before swiftly controlling most of Cadwell Territory. It’s said that many died during the siege, but once inside the city, they didn’t massacre the civilians.
Several adventurers showed surprised expressions upon hearing this. In their experience, a siege is often followed by burning, killing, and pillaging. Not massacring the city is rarer than massacring it.
The Duke stood beside Grayson, with no excess expression on his face.
He had already foresaw the outcome of the Rebel Army taking Stone Crown City on the night he flew over the city. It wasn’t surprising at this moment.
Listening to the adventurers’ discussions, he silently filled in some details they had missed in the rumors.
Not only did the Rebel Army not massacre the city, but they opened the granary and distributed food.
This was something he heard from several merchants who escaped to Grey Rock City. It’s said the Rebel Army emptied the Earl’s granaries and distributed the old grain to the city’s civilians. Those lower-class civilians, who usually couldn’t fill their stomachs with barley porridge, cried with food in their arms all night.
What concerned him even more was another piece of news.
In the Grey Rock City Adventurer’s Guild hall, he often heard people mention the leader of the Rebel Army, the founder of the Red Radiance Revolutionary Army, a self-proclaimed "Reformer" and leader of the civilians.
There are various rumors about the leader’s real name and origins. Some say he was born a miner’s slave; others say he’s a retired soldier persecuted by nobility. But all stories converge on a single point.
He was born a civilian and struggled at the bottom of Osseron Kingdom for half his life before finally raising the flag of rebellion.
His slogan is simple and direct: overthrow the corrupt noble regime and establish a new nation where everyone can eat and clothe themselves.
This slogan spread rapidly among the civilian class. Many young people from border villages even secretly crossed the lines to join the Rebel Army. Earl Marshall was anxious not only because of the Rebel Army’s forces but also because this slogan had a powerful appeal to the civilians in his territory.
"Silence." The Earl’s voice brought the Duke’s thoughts back to the hall. He stood in front of the seat, scanning every adventurer present with his scarred eyes, "The patrol routes and shift schedules will be arranged in detail by my adjutant. You only need to remember one thing—any suspicious person, no matter who they claim to be, no matter their rationale, is not allowed to cross the border. Rebels shall be killed on the spot; capturing spies will be heavily rewarded."
The adjutant quickly distributed the patrol routes to everyone.
The Grayson Squad was assigned to a section in the northeast river valley area of Grey Rock City, about two days’ journey from Grey Rock City and one of the main routes from Cadwell Territory to Grey Rock City.
The terrain in this area is treacherous, with steep gray rock walls on both sides, and a winding narrow river valley in between. The river is not wide, but the current is rapid, with banks filled with smooth, rounded pebbles rinsed by the water.
The gray-white rock walls are covered with mottled rust-colored moss. Occasionally, a few hardy dwarf pines sneak their branches out from the crevices. Their needles are a subdued dark green, quite distinct from the vibrant green pines common to the Wizard Plane.
The squad arrived at their destination by evening. They chose a high rock platform in the middle of the river valley passage as their campsite.
The rock platform is backed by a vertical rock wall, providing a wide view of the whole river valley passage, shielded from the wind, and convenient for observation.
Old Toby, the short Trap Master whose fingers were always smeared with engine oil, set up a circle of simple alert traps around the campsite using thin steel wires and several bells linked together. As soon as anything came within a few steps of the campsite, the bells would ring.
The Duke helped him tie the last steel wire, casually asking if these traps could fend off large Demons.
Old Toby tightened the wire’s anchor, grinned, and said though it couldn’t fend them off, it could give him enough time to leap to his feet and escape with a few deep breaths.
He then clapped the engine oil off his hands, clearly very pleased with his craftsmanship.
By the time they returned to the campfire, the cured meat in the pot was already tender, bubbling with steam. The aroma of the meat mixed with the faint scent of dried wild vegetables carried far in the night breeze.