Chapter 19: Pacifying After the Battle

Because George and Hiren had already met Sergeant Major Anson while searching for Thomas, this time the search went very smoothly. The two of them walked straight to the place where they had seen Anson before, and luckily, the man was not far away and appeared directly in their sight.

George led Hiren over to say hello: “Hi! Good afternoon, Anson. How are you doing?” Then he pointed at Anson’s right arm, which was hanging from a sling made of bandages.

“It is absolutely terrible, my Lord. No! I do not mean you are terrible, but my own condition.” It seemed that something sensitive had been touched, and Sergeant Major Anson became very agitated, and his hands began to tremble gradually.

George placed both hands on Anson’s shoulders and forced him to bend down: “Calm down, Sergeant Major Anson. Look into my eyes. As a soldier, as a squad leader of the Lord’s Guard, and as a warrior who cut off the head of an Orc chieftain at the Northern Fortress, nothing should make you lose your composure like this.”

Anson broke free from George’s arms, straightened his back, closed his eyes, and took two deep breaths. Immediately, Anson’s face changed through various expressions, his complexion slowly turned pale, and then turned greenish.

“It must be the effect of some kind of mental suggestion spell. After all, Anson is someone who crawled out of a mountain of corpses, and the strongest enemy last night was only an Ogre Wizard. Under such a battle situation, it should not have caused him such a huge impact.” George had already reached a definite conclusion in his mind. “Otherwise, an arm injury alone would not be enough to temporarily replace the team’s manager. Not to mention that we are currently in a rest period. Even during wartime, an experienced officer, even if he cannot fight himself, has command abilities that no one else can replace.”

George turned and said: “Hiren! Do not let him move around and hurt himself.”

The partner who had cooperated with him many times immediately understood. Hiren took a step, turned around, and came from beside George to behind Anson. Then, squatting half-way, he used both hands to control the elbow of Anson’s left arm and the knee of his right leg.

George held a hand seal with both hands and began to cast the “Golden Light Spell”. For some reason, when he cast this spell on himself, he only needed to chant the incantation silently, but when casting it on others, he had to form a hand seal to assist. After completing the spell, George touched Anson’s forehead with the index finger of his right hand. Immediately, Anson’s complexion improved, but his limbs suddenly began to struggle. Fortunately, Hiren controlled them all.

Seeing that the “Golden Light Spell” alone could not solve the problem, George’s forehead wrinkled, and he felt a bit uneasy in his heart.

“If we drag this out any longer, we might cause permanent damage to Anson’s mind. It seems that the smooth sailing all along has made me a bit too confident. If it were that easy to resolve, Knight Val would have solved it long ago, and there would be no need for me to show off.” Thinking that Anson might lose a lot of strength due to his mistake, George jumped up in a panic.

George kept shouting in his heart: “What to do! What to do! Calm down! Calm down!”

“The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao…” George kept chanting from the Tao Te Ching to calm himself down.

Suddenly, a Spirit Light flashed, and George felt as if he had grasped something. He tapped his hands together, and a clear direction appeared in his mind. “Right! We can also use the method of a sudden blow to the head.”

George swung his arms, made fists with both hands, and drew two semi-circular arcs from bottom to top, striking Anson’s two ears. At the same time, he took a deep breath, tightened his belly, and then gradually relaxed his mouth, throat, chest, and finally his abdomen. Suddenly, he roared loudly: “Wake up!”

Actually, George originally wanted to shout, “If you do not wake up now, when will you?”, but unfortunately, if he said that, Sergeant Major Anson might not understand.

Anson’s head shook first, and his body became unstable. If Hiren had not quickly held him, he might have collapsed to the ground. Then, as he slowly came to his senses, he shook his head hard and quickly stabilized his body.

Anson held his head with his left hand and asked: “What just happened to me?”

“It is nothing serious. It is probably the aftereffect of being attacked by the enemy’s magic during the battle last night.” George made a joke to brush the matter aside. When Hiren saw that Anson had recovered, he also let go of his hands.

“I wondered what was wrong. Ever since that Ogre Wizard hit me last night, I have felt strange all over.” Anson tried to wave his uninjured left arm. “I really have to thank you, my Lord. I feel much better now. But I am such a small person that I do not know if I can help you with anything.”

George blurted out: “As long as you carry out your duties well, that is the best help for me.”

“But carrying out tasks is my job. This matter should be treated separately, right?” Anson could not quite understand.

Hiren gave him a light but firm punch from behind: “Anson, George is the future Lord. Whatever he says is what it is.”

“Do not listen to Hiren’s nonsense. You just need to remember your duties, guard the Territory well, eliminate the invading enemies, and protect the safety of the people within the Territory. This is the best help for me, a future Lord with ambitions.” Saying this, George glared at Hiren.

“I understand. I will never disappoint you, my Lord.” Anson shouted loudly while pounding his chest with his left hand.

“After all this trouble, I almost forgot the main business. Although I might have been affected by magic and might be a bit off, tell me about the battle last night.” George finally brought the topic back on track.

“There were so many details about the battle last night. I need to think about how to say it.” Anson lowered his head and scratched his head, seeming not to know where to start.

George immediately made the choice for him: “Focus on the key points, especially the time when you asked for help. The rest can be briefly mentioned.” “The previous battles went very smoothly. Those Goblins and Ogres were no match for us. Whether it was close combat, their strength and coordination were far inferior to ours. As for ranged attacks, how could those slings and Javelins compare to Crossbows? The only trouble was those Wolves. Those guys, with their flexible movements, could easily break through our front defense line. This then threatened the crossbowmen and the Adventurer guards behind us, who had not much fighting power. Most of the previous casualties were caused this way. However, even as crossbowmen, our Guard members were very good at close combat, and no one died. In this way, along the way, while eliminating the visible invaders, we also rescued at least five Caravans.” Anson briefly recounted the first part of the battle last night.

Anson swallowed and continued: “We cleared the way like this until we reached the west side of the town and were about to reach the edge of the town. It was there that we were ambushed, although it cannot really be called an ambush. Although they were invisible, those Ogres were too big. Just the sound of their running and the debris they knocked over along the way exposed them. What was annoying was that those Adventurers were useless. Seeing this situation, they collapsed directly. Not only did they scatter and run, but they also disrupted our formation, causing the archers’ support to be delayed by a whole round and failing to effectively hinder the enemy’s actions. Invisible enemies are always hard to deal with. Although we knew the general direction, whether we could hit them was another matter. And you know that those Ogres all have thick skin and flesh. Unless it is a vital point, even taking one or two sword hits is like nothing.”

A look of difficulty and depression appeared on Anson’s lowered face: “They took advantage of their ability to become invisible before attacking and dragged us directly into a chaotic melee. Facing four Ogres and at least one Ogre Wizard at once, even if we won in that situation, I am afraid that not many of our squad would remain. Therefore, I immediately sent out a distress signal. The main casualties occurred during the time before Knight Val arrived. Although we mostly adopted a delaying and defensive guerrilla tactic, the sweeping attack range of the Ogre clubs was too large. Plus, with the Ogre Wizard’s occasional magical support, many soldiers were swept away because they could not dodge in time. Broken bones were considered lucky. Seacom was hit directly in the abdomen and almost could not be saved.”

“As for what happened later, everyone knows. Knight Val swept away all the enemies with his own strength. Among them, the Ogre Wizard, who tried to escape from the sky by turning his body into gas, was also dealt with by the Knight.” Speaking of this, Anson’s eyes were still slightly red, but his face was full of longing.

On the battlefield, a commander with high combat power leading his men to say “Follow me!” is indeed very inspiring. Even if a Mage can eliminate an entire enemy formation with one spell, in the eyes of the warriors, he might be more inclined to be seen as a monster. So Knights are admired, while Mages are feared.

George thought for a moment and then spoke: “Anson, do we need better armor in our team?”

Anson thought for a while before answering: “No need. If we add more, it will be too heavy. The soldiers are not Knights. Even among those who have just entered the Red Iron realm, there are not many. Unless my Lord can get legendary Mithril Breastplates or similar armor, few people can fight for a long time while wearing heavy armor.”

Mithril Breastplate? Hearing this, George gasped. A set of this armor costs at least five thousand Gold Coins, and there is no supply even if there is demand. Even the Knights in the Territory have not been able to wear this thing. It seems this path is not open.

“Speaking of which, is Seacom awake? Let’s go see him. Will it affect his injury?”

“No problem. If you go to see him, I think he will be very happy.”

Soon, the three of them arrived in front of a carriage where the wounded were placed.

“Seacom, guess who came to see you.” Anson shouted in a loud voice.

A young man with red hair lying on the carriage turned his head to look in the direction where the sound came from. Seeing George, he seemed to struggle to get up.

George hurried forward and pressed him down: “Just lie down. Do not think about anything else for now. Focus on recovering your health. I will arrange and solve future matters. Do not worry. The most important thing right now is to strive to return to the team as soon as possible.”

“Return to the team?” Seacom’s eyes dimmed. “My Lord, no need to comfort me. I know my situation well. Even if I heal, I probably cannot be in the army anymore.”

“Then do you regret it?” George asked this question.

Seacom answered without thinking: “I do not regret it. Even if it happens again, I will not regret it.”

George answered confidently: “That is good. After you recover, if you are not suitable to stay in the Guard, you can transfer to become an instructor or a small squad leader in the Defense Squad. The Lord’s Manor will not give up on anyone who has made a contribution.”

George wanted to say more, but a call for him came from a distance.