The cavalry charged swiftly from the other end of the valley, crossing the long mountain plank bridge and making their way directly to the town walls, stopping in front of the trio—Weiss and his companions.
The leading middle-aged knight gave a sharp pull on his reins, and the warhorse beneath him reared up, letting out a loud, piercing neigh.
His keen gaze swept over the three before him.
When his eyes landed on Lortissa, he lingered for a moment longer.
“Who are you?”
His voice was imposing and sonorous, not the bellow of a superior giving orders, but the kind of aura that could only be honed through years and scars.
“Silent Sun Town is now under military lockdown. The Grand Duke of Tanzhou has ordered us to take charge and enforce martial law.”
Weiss stepped forward, positioning himself protectively before his two companions, adopting the most harmless posture he could, and took the initiative to reveal their identities:
“Sir Knight, as you see, we’re mercenaries. We came into the valley because of a commission…”
He didn’t get to finish.
“You’re lying!”
A crisp, fiery female voice exploded from within the ranks of the cavalry.
It was a young female knight atop her horse, pointing her riding crop at Weiss, her face openly full of scorn.
“This whole area is crawling with Aberrations. What kind of mercenary could stroll in so easily? Are you suicidal idiots?”
Hearing Weiss scolded so harshly, Fia’s face darkened several shades, her fists clenching tightly.
Lortissa outwardly remained calm and composed, but those crystalline green eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and beneath that indifferent gaze, an almost imperceptible glare swept toward the female knight.
“Stand down, Dame Westwood.”
The lead knight gave a low order. His voice was not loud, yet the female knight immediately withdrew her hand, pursing her lips in reluctant silence.
His gaze again swept over the trio before him, once more lingering on Lortissa before finally returning to Weiss’s face.
“You say you’re mercenaries. Do you have any proof of identity?”
After all, this was the empire’s frontier, and it was not strange for a scout knight to be this cautious.
Weiss cooperated fully, retrieving the badge of his affiliated mercenary company from a leather pouch at his side.
It was a piece of polished obsidian, inscribed with special magic runes detailing the company’s name and headquarters, shimmering with a faint gleam.
The lead knight took the badge, his fingers rubbing over the etched lines as he examined it closely for a moment.
“From Usavila City?”
“Yes, sir.”
Weiss replied smoothly, his expression calm.
“We came from U-City. Since we’re unfamiliar with the border terrain, we got a little lost. Realized we’d gone off track and circled around the valley, only to end up here at Silent Sun Town.”
The lead knight raised his eyes again, his gaze passing over Weiss to sweep over Fia and Lortissa behind him once more.
Weiss immediately noticed that look—it wasn’t a simple inspection, but more of an assessment, weighing up potential threats.
His heart tightened, and he hurried to add an explanation.
“These two behind me are my companions. We act as a team. After all, this is the border, dangerous everywhere—there’s no way I’d dare come here alone as a single mercenary…”
He hadn’t finished when the lead knight raised his hand.
“That’s enough. I understand.”
He handed the badge back to Weiss. Surprisingly, he did not press for Fia’s or Lortissa’s identities.
Weiss accepted the badge but felt something was off.
Though the leader maintained the posture of a routine interrogation, Weiss keenly sensed that the man’s attention was less on him and much more on the two standing behind him.
Almost as if he was on guard against something.
Not just against the still-defiant Fia, but especially against the always-silent Lortissa.
The air became tense for a moment.
Weiss worried that the longer this dragged on, the more likely the knight would notice something amiss. He decided to act, pulling the knight’s attention back to himself:
“May I ask, Sir Captain, do you have any other questions?”
His tone was neither servile nor overbearing, yet it made Dame Westwood behind the captain bristle all over again.
She shot a vicious glare at Weiss and was about to raise her hand and scold him with a “What did you say—” when the lead knight spoke first:
“What sort of commission brought you here?”
“A missing person case. Someone got lost near the border, and we were hired to help find them.”
“Looking for someone?”
The lead knight looked back at the silent, ruined town behind him.
“In these parts, I’m afraid the only thing you’ll find is Aberrations.”
“What happened here?” Weiss followed up, adopting a bewildered and fearful expression, playing dumb.
“How could there be so many Aberrations? We ran into several groups along the way. To avoid fighting, we had to sneak around and got ourselves lost.”
His explanation made their presence here sound all the more reasonable.
The lead knight nodded, his tone softening, but he didn’t answer Weiss’s question directly.
“The specifics are still under investigation. We’re a scout cavalry unit sent to recon the area. I am the captain, Chronka Ampo.”
Chronka Ampo.
The moment that name reached Weiss’s ears, genuine respect flashed in his eyes.
“So you are Sir Chronka. Please, just call me Weiss—Weiss the Mercenary.”
This border scout knight’s reputation was already well-known to him.
In the taverns of Usavila, when mercenaries boasted and bragged about whose record was the most impressive, they’d keep at it till they were all dead drunk.
But when the question of “who’s the real man” came up, whether drunk or sober, they all answered in unison—Chronka Ampo.
It was said he was once a talent favored by a certain Grand Duke of the Elder Council, destined for a meteoric rise into the heart of imperial power.
But for the sake of a late friend’s dying wish, he gave up that golden path, remained at the frontier, inherited his friend’s will and sword, and fought for years at the very front against the Aberration Tide.
He had the strength to be an imperial guardsman, but since scouts were always the first to confront the Aberration Tide, he chose to stay in the humble scout unit even now.
This name, even as a noble of the Covenant Kingdom and a fellow knight, Fia too had heard it.
Two years ago, in that decisive battle which quelled the Northern Aberration Tide, he followed the legendary Seven Heroes into the Silent Land, carving a bloody path for the heroes through hordes of monsters—and returned safely in the end.
That feat alone was enough to make him a hero sung by all.
At once, her earlier indignation faded, replaced by pure admiration and respect as she greeted him with utmost courtesy.
“Sir Chronka, greetings. I am Fia.”
Lortissa also nodded slightly in respect.
Seeing all three express such sincere respect for their captain, Dame Westwood’s hostility at last eased somewhat.
She straightened up, chin held high, almost as if showing off—a look of pride in being associated with him.
Chronka was long used to such respect, returning their courtesy with a nod before offering some advice:
“This area is dangerous. You should get to the shelter zone as soon as possible. A commission’s reward isn’t worth risking your life over—as a mercenary, you ought to weigh risks and gains even more shrewdly than a regular soldier. I probably don’t need to say more.”
“Ah, yes, thank you for the reminder, sir.”
“However, since you’re looking for someone, that works out. All local residents and passing travelers have been gathered in the shelter. You can look for clues there.”
Weiss’s mind raced.
Since the component they sought hadn’t been found, the “Dust of Return Journey” seemed to be their only gain for now. There was nothing more to be done.
But the commission still had to be continued, and there were no other leads for now.
“That’s great. May I ask where the shelter zone is?”
Chronka lifted his gauntleted right hand, pointing to the opposite side of the valley from where they’d come:
“Just follow us. We’ve just retrieved the signal arrows and are heading back to camp to resupply and report in.”