Chapter 99: Raised Eyebrows

Chapter 99: Raised Eyebrows

In the Mountain Villa, as Bran explained, Lily showed a confused expression on her face. “You don’t plan on coming back?”

“I want to establish a permanent outpost by the Eternal Riverbank, so I won’t be back for a while.” Seeing his sister’s eyes light up, Bran quickly added, “The Mountain Villa is still mine. Don’t think about taking it over. If you need to make any changes, you must discuss it with Whisper first. Most importantly, protect this Ancient Tree.”

Lily sounded a bit impatient. “Alright, alright, I know.”

Seeing his sister’s attitude, Bran had a feeling that his Mountain Villa might not survive.

…

A few days later, Bran set off with the group. This group had over four hundred people. They would be responsible for patrolling the long border of the Eternal River, making sure no outsiders intruded during this period. Once they reached the Eternal River, people would split into several small teams to guard different sections.

To ensure an effective border blockade, the group carried nearly a hundred Snow Falcons. They were now circling and crying above the group, sometimes diving down, sometimes soaring high. On the ground, packs of White Wolves accompanied them. Some stayed close to their masters, while others formed small teams of three or five, trotting along unhurriedly. These beasts seemed loose and chaotic, but they actually followed a clear order. The entire group was under their vigilant protection.

For this long journey, Bran made thorough preparations. He built himself a tall and spacious four-wheeled cart. Long and short weapons, crossbows, and armor were all ready. His own White Wolf and Snow Falcon were also brought along. Following Danny’s teachings, Bran gradually developed a mental connection with that Giant Falcon. He now named this Giant Falcon Feiyu. At this moment, this not-yet-fully-mature creature was flapping around in the sky.

Bran was at the rear of the group. Two oxen pulled this eye-catching big cart, chewing their cud leisurely. Danny rode a horse, accompanying the cart. Behind her, ten young people followed. They were the attendants assigned to Bran by the Northlands, consisting of six males and four females. The people like Gazi that Bran wanted were kept at the castle during its expansion because they performed well. The Northlands now needed a lot of manpower for rebuilding their own outposts. For the next year or two, manpower would be very tight. So, being able to assign ten people already exceeded Bran’s expectations.

These ten people came from different parts of the Northlands, sent by different powers. Bran knew this was people’s repayment to him, as well as their recognition and investment. In a sense, these ten people had become family with him and Danny. They would follow Bran to develop new territory together and become its first masters.

Bran’s target was the area around North Fort Bridge on the Eternal River. So another task of this trip was to block that area.

Currently, Bran sat in the cart, repeatedly looking at the information records about the North Fort Bridge area. On the other side of the bridge, there was a Castle. Although the people there ran away completely after the war years ago, in recent years, people had started to occupy the Castle again. What made Bran feel both amused and annoyed was that no one could tell him who was occupying the Castle or which side they belonged to. But thinking positively, someone occupying it meant someone was maintaining it, so at least it wouldn’t be too decayed. Feeling bored, Bran threw what he was holding aside, opened the cart door, and climbed to the roof with the Black Cat Huahua.

Danny glanced sideways at Bran and asked, “Are you okay?”

“No. I just realized that our Northlands never really cared about the outside. We didn’t even pay attention to changes right at our doorstep.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Who occupies the land across the river now? There’s no clear information. Why doesn’t anyone care about this?”

“Does caring about that help? We care about the defensive weapons on their walls and whether they pose a threat to us. We care about whether their weapons have become refined. If they don’t have these, no matter who occupies it, we can take it back anytime.”

Bran gave Danny a thumbs-up. “Right! We’re not going to reason with them. Why care who they are?”

Reminded by Danny, Bran’s mind opened up. So he went back into the cart and continued his planning.

…

After setting up camp in the evening, Bran’s four Snow Falcons landed on the cart roof. The Giant Falcon Feiyu habitually stayed close to Danny. The Black Cat Huahua still occupied Bran’s embrace. Several White Wolves lay scattered around. People gathered around the campfire, sitting or standing, casually chatting about topics they found interesting.

Zack, a guy with a simple and honest appearance, asked Bran, “Great Wizard, if we’re establishing territory, wouldn’t it be better for us to stay in the Northlands?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Would you take things from your own people?”

“No!”

Bran laughed happily. “I wouldn’t either, so I have to go outside to take.”

“We could build it ourselves.”

“Just us? How long would it take to build a Castle? Build a few houses, then have children, and after several generations, how much could we expand?”

Mary, who was nearby, took over the topic. “But that doesn’t mean we should just take, right?”

Bran thought to himself, they’re all good people, so I’m the only bad one here. So he asked in return, “If someone took your land and grazed animals, built houses, or farmed on your land, what would you do?”

“Who would dare? I’d kill them!”

“It’s not about who dares. It’s that someone has already done it.” Bran casually drew on the ground, making simple markings. Then he said, “I’m just taking back what originally belonged to us along the way.”

As they were just calming down, Bran added another sentence. “Even if it doesn’t belong to us, what needs to be taken, should definitely be taken. Back during the Eternal River battle, did anyone care whose the Northlands was? The Demon Clan wanted to come over, so they fought us to the death in the Western Territory. The Kingdom wanted the Northlands, so they crossed the Eternal River. Now, we need to go beyond the Northlands, so naturally we can rely on our swords to go out.”

“You mean we can boldly take and boldly kill without worry?”

Bran grinned and laughed loudly. “If it doesn’t pain your heart, then go ahead and kill and take as you please.”

“Why would my heart ache?”

“If someone killed your ox, would your heart ache?”

“It would ache.”

Bran gestured on the ground. “This land and everything on it belong to us. How much can just a few of us do? If someone farmed for us, if someone maintained the Castle for us, wouldn’t we be much more relaxed? So, we can do it a different way. We provide protection, and they work for us.”

Mary added, “Like protecting our herds?”

“Yes. Also, I heard Uncle Vincent talk about our war with the Demon Clan. The Demon Clan usually doesn’t charge into battle directly. They make some weaker races go first. If we could also drive some outsiders, we wouldn’t have suffered such heavy casualties back then. So, I hope you don’t act recklessly and can follow my arrangements. Although in essence it is taking, this kind of taking isn’t directly cutting with a sword.”

“Okay, what do we need to do?”

“Watch first. When the time comes, just follow orders.”