Chapter 663: Trapped in Desperate Straits

After the witnesses on the official road are dealt with, the cavalry captain who arrived with reinforcements reports the situation."My lord, the enemy has been killed off. We found Lawrence's corpse, but it doesn't look very complete."

Lynd thinks for a moment.

"Leave me one hundred elite cavalry. Take everyone else back."

"Clean up the battlefield. Bring the captured horses, weapons, and equipment back to our territory as quickly as possible."

"Take the main road directly. Do not fear exposing your identity."

"Daddario, go back and notify Military Liaison Herson and Warband Commander Potter."

"Immediately summon the reservists. At the same time, send troops to occupy every key road and dangerous point. Prepare to hold out while waiting for rescue."

"Also, notify Intelligence Officer Scott. Have him bring people and catch up with us immediately."

"For the rest of the journey, we will need Peace Haven's intelligence network."

Daddario says worriedly, "Is one hundred men too few?"

"My lord, why not bring the cavalry detachment as escort?"

Lynd shakes his head.

"No. We don't have enough supplies. This happened too suddenly. We have no supplies prepared for a long-distance forced march."

"One hundred cavalry is already the limit. Any more, and we can't last long."

"Besides, an escort of one hundred cavalry can reduce a lot of trouble."

"With my status as a knight lord and the status of Baron of Waterhill, an escort of one hundred cavalry isn't beyond the rules."

"The official forces along the road can't use that as an excuse to stop our journey."

"If we bring too many people, every garrison and noble along the way will have reason to intercept us."

That evening, Scott, the Peace Haven intelligence officer stationed in Lynd's territory, catches up with several subordinates.

After a brief conversation with Pacino, Scott judges that the matter behind this is serious.

After discussing it, everyone plans to travel light.

But before they can carry that out, a new situation appears the next day.

The kingdom's cavalry begin patrolling the official road. Aside from nobles, no one is allowed to ride alone.

Now there are only two choices. Either Pacino and Lynd ride ahead together, or they continue moving slowly with the main group.

Pacino and Lynd would move faster if they rode hard, but once they encountered an attack, they would be very difficult to protect.

With no better choice, they can only pick up the pace.

Aside from supplies, the convoy abandons all cargo at an official post station.

Fortunately, Peace Haven's wagons have gone through constant upgrades, and they have changed greatly.

Their load capacity and speed have both improved considerably. When traveling on an official road, covering more than a hundred kilometers a day isn't difficult.

Lynd spends money freely along the way, changing horses but not wagons. In three days, they cover four hundred kilometers.

Just before they are about to enter Cloud Tree City's sphere of influence, they finally encounter a large-scale assassin attack.

Judging from the way these people fight, they aren't professional assassins at all. They are soldiers in disguise.

Whether they are noble private troops or the kingdom's regular army is still hard to determine.

Intelligence Officer Scott also tries to activate a secret communication route to send a message to Peace Haven.

But when he prepares to go to the hidden outpost, he discovers that the place has already been surrounded by many armed men.

Some are noble private troops, and some are kingdom soldiers.

The enemy doesn't seem to intend to attack. They simply keep the area sealed so people can enter but cannot leave.

They have also set up quite a few ballistae around the area, along with many crossbowmen.

This is meant to prevent the people inside the intelligence point from breaking out, and to stop the intelligence station from sending messages by birds.

After careful observation, Scott realizes the place is sealed too tightly. There is no way to contact the people inside.

In its current state, the intelligence station can't provide him with help either.

Every place they pass afterward is the same. Wherever there is a Peace Haven intelligence station, it is surrounded.

According to a simple investigation, this isn't something that happened long ago. These intelligence stations were suddenly surrounded one day before Pacino's group arrived.

Fortunately, they aren't far from Cloud Tree City now.

But on this final night, the enemy suddenly raids the official post station where they are resting.

Lynd leads his men in a desperate fight to carve out a bloody path, avoiding being burned alive inside the post station, and escapes onto the official road with only a few dozen survivors.

Under cover of night, the group can only continue south along the official road and hope to shake off the pursuers.

But after losing their horses, the situation will only grow worse.

Two days later, after Lynd finishes bandaging the wound on his arm, he goes to check on Pacino.

"Your Excellency, how are you?"

There is a large wound on Pacino's back, and the bleeding has only just stopped.

Pacino's face is pale. He forces out a smile.

"Knight Lynd, listen to me. During this time, I have carefully thought through what happened."

"I am not clever, but I have pieced together the truth of this matter. You must tell Henwell as quickly as possible. Have him immediately go save..."

Lynd raises a hand and cuts him off.

"Your Excellency! We agreed earlier that you would tell Lord Henwell personally."

"Hold on. This is the enemy's final counterattack. The day after tomorrow, we can reach the Gilbert family's territory."

"That place is already not far from Peace Haven. When the time comes, you can personally tell Lord Henwell what happened. Hold on."

After comforting Pacino a little more, Lynd finds Intelligence Officer Scott.

"The situation is very bad. We lack medicine, and every force along the road refuses to provide us with help."

"Our intelligence outpost here and the experimental agricultural district have all been sealed off. There is no way to send word out."

After Scott stitches the wound on his abdomen, he spits out the broken wooden stick he had been biting and takes a long drink of water.

"The messengers we sent out for help have also been killed."

"You saw today's battle. The weapons and equipment on the opposing leader's horse belonged to those soldiers we sent for help."

Scott continues, "Give me your clothes. Tomorrow I will disguise myself as you and take the remaining people as a decoy."

"You take Baron Pacino and flee toward our territory immediately. Do not go to the Gilbert family. I suspect they have rebelled too."

Lynd shakes his head.

"I can't leave. The other side has already sent out Battle Knights. The main reason we are still alive is that the enemy isn't from a single faction."

"Some of them want to kill us, while others want to capture us alive if possible. You aren't strong enough to stop them."

"Once you fight, the enemy will immediately realize that you are pretending to be me. At that point, we won't be able to run far either."

"You are an intelligence officer. Stealth and evasion are required courses for you. Since you were assigned to my territory, you are clearly one of the best."

"Use what you are best at. Tomorrow, find a chance to leave on your own and seek reinforcements immediately. We can hold out until tomorrow night at most."

Scott falls silent for a moment, then nods lightly.

"Hold on. I will definitely bring reinforcements back."

Lynd adds, "Go to Count Doyle of the Gilbert family. He is the closest."

"As for whether he has also betrayed Lord Henwell, we can only gamble."

"I believe you have felt it too. The closer we get to Peace Haven, the less patient the enemy becomes."

"Tomorrow, they may stop holding back. At that point, only Count Doyle will be able to save us."

"What if he has also rebelled?"

"..."

Lynd pauses, then reveals a smile.

"Then I will be honored to fight for Peace Haven, and honored to fight for Lord Henwell."