Chapter 39: Inspiration

“Are you full?”

Dean looked with a smile at the skinny Militia Captain.

“Yeah, I don’t eat much to begin with, and… if I kept fighting for it, I’m afraid I’d need to stay in bed to recover!” Ike rubbed his bruised eye socket and said with a bitter smile, “Those guys knew to hold back at first, but now, their eyes are red with frenzy! Fortunately, in the scuffle with the Regiment Commander earlier, they used up most of their Stamina, otherwise, something bad would definitely have happened!”

As he spoke, the skinny Militia Captain looked at Dean with a hint of worship—in fact, Ike had already guessed some of his Regiment Commander’s intentions.

Anyone with a little knowledge and intelligence would guess such an intention.

And Ike was a rare young man among the group who had both knowledge and intelligence.

“I didn’t think of this! It was the Emerald Grand Duke!”

Dean said candidly.

“It was actually that Grand Duchess!”

Ike exclaimed. Clearly, even in a remote small place like the Tier Territory, the name of the Emerald Grand Duke was heard often, and there were countless worshippers. Therefore, almost subconsciously, Ike asked out of instinct: “Regiment Commander, do you know this Grand Duchess?”

“No, I haven’t met her, but I admire her!”

Dean shook his head—although reuniting with the Grand Duchess was inevitable, right now, not having met her meant not having met her. Dean would absolutely not be vague about such things.

He knew that if inconsistent news spread out, that serious Grand Duchess would definitely investigate thoroughly.

And the current Dean could not withstand an investigation. If investigated, flaws would definitely appear, or even attract the dislike of the Grand Duchess.

After all, she hated insincere people.

And this was something Dean absolutely did not want to see.

“Is that so!”

It could be seen that Ike was a little disappointed. After all, in his eyes, Dean before him was a Big Shot, and even such a Big Shot had not seen the Emerald Grand Duke with his own eyes, so how could a small figure like him ever meet her?

However, the skinny Militia Captain quickly collected himself. He thought about why he had temporarily left the group fighting for food.

Suddenly, Ike put away his unnecessary expressions and reported in a formal tone: “Regiment Commander, something big has happened in Tier Town!”

“What is it?”

Dean, who already knew what it was, now pretended to ask seriously—he didn’t mind learning more detailed news.

“That Tax Officer Mold is dead. Lord Baron is searching the whole town for people from the Thieves Guild. A merchant from the South was also killed, but it’s unknown whether it was the Thieves Guild or local bandits from the Tier Territory. Rumor has it that the merchant from the South was very rich!”

Ike reported in detail everything he had heard at the ‘Snow Bear’s Home’.

“Something like that actually happened!”

Dean frowned slightly and tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair. With the sound of ‘tap, tap’, the entire hall began to quiet down—the young people’s fight for food had already come to an end. Everyone was bruised and swollen, but their bellies were round. Only a few gluttons were still fighting.

However, with the silence in the hall and the crisp sound of tapping reaching them, they also quieted down. Subconsciously following their partners’ gaze, they saw their Regiment Commander frowning in thought and Ike looking equally heavy-hearted.

Such a scene, even without asking, told them that something was wrong.

At a time like this, the young Militiamen knew what was important. Immediately, they tidied themselves up—of course, one shouldn’t expect them to wash and dress up; tidying up here simply meant patting the dust off their bodies.

After that, the young people walked in front of Dean.

Looking at the Militiamen standing spontaneously in front of him, Dean nodded secretly in his heart—he was glad that the Militiamen near the Tier Territory were of hunter origin and understood the need for true vigilance in the face of danger, unlike true farmers who would only be at a loss when facing danger.

If it were really the latter, and he wanted to rely on such a team to participate in a war, he would really have to pray to the heavens.

“Ike, explain it to everyone!”

Dean signaled to his Militia Captain.

Hearing Dean’s command, the skinny Militia Captain immediately recounted what he had told Dean earlier in even greater detail.

Suddenly, the young people let out low cries one after another—it was clear that quite a few of these young people held respect for Mold; because, a trace of sadness appeared on their faces.

Whether they were deceived by Mold’s acting or it was the blind nature of young people, ultimately, it was the simplicity in their hearts.

Facing such simple young people, Dean subconsciously thought of his past self—what was the difference between him back then and these young people before his eyes?

Involuntarily, Dean sighed softly.

Clearly, at this moment, as the leader of these young people, every move Dean made attracted everyone’s attention, and this sigh was no exception.

Dean certainly would not tell these young people what he was sighing about, even though they were simple and innocent; after all, some secrets, once they existed, had to be taken to the grave—

“Your Excellency Mold was a very nice person, and he had a bright future, but…”

As he spoke, Dean shook his head again, looking sad.

“Yes, in two days, My Lord Mold was going to Vauban City to receive the ‘Knight’s Baptism’!”

The skinny Militia Captain sighed along with him, and the other young people hearing the news also looked regretful—clearly, for these young people, a ‘Knight’ was a high and unreachable Big Shot; and now, someone who might have become such a Big Shot had died just like that.

It was really not worth it!

Watching the appearance of the young people before him, aside from sighing again at their simplicity, Dean just waited a little—for a person who deserved to die, Dean certainly would not be overly sad, but he did care about the feelings of these young people; so, after waiting a little while for the young people’s emotions to calm down, Dean asked again: “Ike, do you have any other news about those Thieves Guild members and bandits?”

“No, Lord Baron has locked down the town. Except for us, only patrolling soldiers can enter and exit. All townspeople and merchants have been ordered to stay in their rooms. Uncle Huck was furious because his guest was killed and has temporarily joined the soldier team to search; but… there have been no results!”

The skinny Militia Captain showed a helpless expression at the end, while the young people around looked at each other, clearly having no idea—asking a group of not-very-old young people to make decisions on such a life-and-death matter was clearly forcing them.

So, the young people’s gazes turned to Dean once again.

Undoubtedly, everything Dean had done before now had a trace of reward—at least, the young people were willing to trust Dean at this critical moment.

Of course, the superior-subordinate relationship between the two sides could not be ignored, but what played a greater role was the extraordinary background and extensive knowledge Dean displayed, which was exerting its effect at this time.

Feeling the pleading gazes of the young people, Dean did not say anything immediately. He tapped the armrest of the chair again—

Tap, tap, tap…

This crisp tapping sound became the only clear sound in the entire hall.

Those young Militiamen, watching their thinking Regiment Commander, subconsciously lowered their breathing, as if afraid of disturbing their Regiment Commander’s thinking.

Then, the tapping sound gradually disappeared.

Suddenly, all the Militiamen perked up their ears—

“Tier Town has entered a state of full martial law, but has found nothing. There are only two possibilities!” Saying this, Dean raised two fingers, “First, they are hiding very deep, so deep that even Lord Baron can’t dig them out; however, I reserve my doubts about that; as for the second…”

Dean looked around at his young subordinates, deliberately dragging out his tone, and said every word clearly—some things didn’t need to be said by himself; coming from someone else’s mouth would be more convincing.

“They escaped?!”

Almost simultaneously, two Militia Captains exclaimed, and the young Militiamen around them were stunned, but then they all fell into deep thought. Then, the changing expressions on their faces told Dean that they believed this statement.

“Although I don’t want to admit it, in my opinion, this possibility is the greatest!”

Dean nodded, guiding the matter toward his plan. Then, with a heavy tone and clear articulation, Dean said: “So, I think as the Knight Order of the Tier Territory, we cannot sit idly by—even if it is for those who died innocently. After all, those bandits only chose targets they thought were valuable this time, but if we don’t stop them early, they will become more and more unscrupulous. When that time comes, they won’t have any scruples when choosing targets; and by then… your parents, brothers, and sisters are very likely to become their targets!”

Looking at the Militiamen whose faces had changed slightly, Dean took a deep breath and continued to stir the emotions of these young people: “Facing these bandits, if we retreat, it will only bring harm to our loved ones; so… if these guys are really near us, we must take them out!”

“Take them out!”

“Take them out!”

The young people, intentionally guided by Dean, immediately shouted in unison.