novelraw Chapter 68: Cross-border pursuit
Chapter 68: Cross-border pursuit
Henwil looked at Monroe: "Defense Officer, why do you say that?"
Henwil's expression that was half-smile, half-serious made Monroe instinctively avert his gaze.
Then he raised his head to meet Henwil's eyes: "Arluis, you might not know this, but the damn bandits' hideouts are all outside the border. The closest point to the border from here is only seventy li away. Before we can catch up to them, they'll already have reached the border."
Henwil said calmly: "So the fact that I was surrounded and attacked by these bandits should just be forgotten? Defense Officer Monroe, is that what you mean?"
Monroe quickly shook his head: "Of course not! Arluis, don't worry, this isn't just a challenge to you, it's a challenge to the entire order and rules of Peace Point. You go back and rest to recover from your injuries first. This matter won't be dropped just like that - I'll definitely give you an explanation!"
Henwil stepped forward, casually snapped the crossbow bolt embedded in his armor, and used the broken arrow to lightly tap Monroe's chest: "Translate for me, what exactly does 'explanation' mean?"
Monroe cooperatively acted like he didn't know how to respond.
Henwil increased the pressure of the broken arrow in his hand: "Translate it! What the hell does 'explanation' mean?"
Under Henwil's pressure, Monroe said in a deep voice: "I will definitely bring the head of the bandit leader who masterminded this to the youngest young master!"
Henwil threw away the broken arrow and chuckled lightly: "Heh? Is this your explanation to me? What kind of fucking explanation is this! This is called brushing me off! Now! Let me tell you what a real explanation is, and how the explanation I want should be done!"With that, Henwil picked up the war lance stuck in the pile of corpses, swept it across his chest, breaking off all the arrows on his body.
He shouted loudly to his guard team: "All mount up! Follow me to pursue the bandits! Leave none alive! Kill them all!"
Henwil walked to his warhorse and mounted it. The warriors in the guard team, as long as they could still move, all mounted their horses and lined up behind Henwil.
Henwil pointed to the Phoenix family flag nearby: "Mark! Carry the flag! Keep up with me!"
Then, Henwil reined in his horse and said to Monroe and Umo: "Come if you want, stay here and wait if you don't. I'll show you what a real explanation looks like!"
After that, Henwil took the lead, charging toward the direction the bandits had fled as dawn broke.
Knight Umo hesitated for a moment, then also mounted his horse and led the Baron's elite private forces to follow Henwil's flag.
Monroe watched the departing troops, and his trusted aide whispered beside him: "Sir, shall we just follow the youngest young master's words and wait here? After all, your duty is to protect the territory's safety, not to be a bodyguard for this willful young master!"
Monroe suddenly turned around and slapped his trusted aide: "Is your head full of shit? If I don't go now, it would be betraying the Phoenix family!"
Monroe organized all the cavalry and followed behind Knight Umo's troops.
By the time the sun rose, Henwil had already caught up with the bandits.
After all, they were warhorses, with speed and endurance far surpassing the bandits' horses.
Facing the orderly charging cavalry, the bandits had no intention of turning back to fight back - they all wished their horses had two extra legs.
Soon, Henwil reached the bandits lagging behind. His war lance shot out, directly lifting a bandit off his horse.
The bandit who fell to the ground had just spat out blood when he was trampled into mud by the ensuing horses' hooves.
After half an hour of pursuit, the remaining bandits escaped across the border.
Henwil reined in his horse to stop, and the cavalry behind him also slowed down, gathering behind Henwil.
The bandits who had escaped with their lives showed expressions of having survived a disaster, then they began laughing hysterically.
Scar Tiger even made a throat-slitting provocative gesture toward Henwil: "You little bastard! Just wait, don't expect your trade routes to be peaceful anymore! Also, you'll need to sleep with your eyes open from now on - many people want to kill you, you won't live much longer!"
Henwil said to Knight Mark beside him: "Wave the flag! Prepare to charge!"
Knight Mark, whose eyes were already red with killing intent, didn't care about anything else and immediately waved the family flag.
Knight Umo hesitated for a moment, then approached to remind him: "Arluis, that's Ika Kingdom territory over there! If we charge across, it will be hard to explain to the Duchy! This could cause disputes between nations!"
Henwil said calmly: "Assassinating nobles, I recall, is unacceptable to all countries on the continent. The victim themselves have the right to pursue across borders."
Monroe came closer: "That's true in principle, but we just ended the war with Ika Kingdom not long ago. If we cross the border now, I'm afraid the other side won't be very happy! Noble honor retaliation is just customary practice, it's not written in any country's laws - Arluis should consider this carefully!"
Henwil lifted his war lance and laughed: "Heh, rules and reasoning are both established through fighting! The Duchy lost tens of thousands of soldiers in the war, not just to peacefully reason with people! Evidence and witnesses are all here! The other side deliberately tried to kill me! To kill the heir of a Duchy noble. I think even the Grand Duke would approve of my decision if he knew - otherwise what did we fight the war for?"
With that, Henwil shouted loudly: "Form up!"
The cavalry began slowly gathering under the guidance of the flag.
No longer arranged in a single line, they moved behind Henwil to form arrays ten riders wide.
The bandits still didn't understand what was happening, thinking the cavalry opposite was preparing to retreat, so their mocking and cursing intensified.
However, Scar Tiger, who had experienced battlefields, felt a sudden dread - he remembered this was how cavalry prepared for a shock charge.
But he didn't warn the other bandits, instead quietly retreating backward.
Before he could turn his horse around, Henwil suddenly spurred his horse to leap across the border, raising his war lance as he charged toward the bandits.
Only when they saw the cavalry gradually accelerating did the bandits realize the other side truly intended to cross the border to kill them.
Half a day later, except for the leader who was deliberately left alive, all the bandits were slaughtered at the border.
Knight Mark, who had come to his senses, worriedly advised: "Arluis, we should leave! Just now, there were already Ika Kingdom scout riders nearby. Soon, Ika Kingdom's army will arrive here. If we're still in their territory by then, there will likely be conflict!"
Henwil leveled his spear blade and tapped it against the head of Scar Tiger kneeling on the ground: "That won't do! I can't have come all this way for nothing. We lost several brothers - we need some compensation! Can't let them always get away with cost-free business."
Next, Henwil dismissed the people around him and took the bandits into the forest.
His interrogation methods were somewhat bloody, not quite fitting his current identity - he couldn't ruin his quiet, handsome young man persona!
The people outside, hearing the heart-wrenching screams coming from the forest, all showed strange expressions and all reined their horses back a bit.