Chapter 14 The Iron General

After saying goodbye to the parish chief, Aufra left the room with decisive steps. Hao Ren, after a moment of recollection, finally remembered who this "Marshal Aufra" was.

Apart from the Church, which wielded immense influence but didn't participate in secular power, the Kingdom of Holleta had three figures holding supreme authority. First and foremost was the current King Moron, followed by the two key figures serving as the King's right and left hands: the Kingdom's highest administrative officer, Prince Havermann, and the one known as the "Iron General," Aufra, the Kingdom's foremost military power.

Yes, the young woman who had just left was the most capable fighter in this country—at least, theoretically.

Hao Ren had previously gathered information about the Kingdom's current ruling class from various sources and knew about Marshal Aufra, but he never expected her to be such a young woman, seemingly only a year or two older than himself. When he first heard the title "Kingdom's foremost military power," he had imagined a burly, eight-foot-tall brute—someone like Izhaks, preferably with two ribbonfish tattooed on his biceps.

So now he was completely stunned. It took him a while to realize that the person who had just left the room was a big shot: one of the most powerful people in the country, the commander-in-chief of all the Kingdom's knightly orders, a beautiful woman who looked very young. Apart from that military bearing, Marshal Aufra didn't give anyone the slightest impression of great power.

"Wow… a big shot," Lily said, sticking out her tongue. But her exclamation ended there. She glanced at Becky. "You seem to admire her a lot?"

Becky nodded her head like it was on a vibrating setting, and Hao Ren standing next to her could feel the breeze…

Hao Ren wanted to ask about Marshal Aufra, but it didn't seem to be the right time. Parish Chief Gerton was still being kept waiting. He looked at the thin, frail old man who seemed ready to meet the Goddess at any moment. "Well, we've reported everything…"

The old man slowly nodded, his voice sounding even weaker than before. "Thank you for your information. It's very timely and very important. Tomorrow, I will send ascetic monks to the mountains to check the situation and see what exactly happened at the collapse site you mentioned. Rest well in town tonight; you must be quite tired."

Hao Ren nodded, but he had more to say. "Will those stone men run out of here? We also encountered monsters on the east side of the mountain road. They seem to be heading to the grasslands. It would be best to strengthen defenses there as well."

"The Church knights and the Kingdom's knightly orders will take care of everything," the parish chief waved his hand. Hao Ren and the others were just a group of mercenaries who had just arrived, so there was no need to discuss many things in detail with them. Hao Ren realized this himself, so he suppressed the many questions in his heart. Vivian remembered something. "Oh, right, we need to go to Blood Lake. It seems we need a pass from you?"

"Going to Holy Lake?" The parish chief raised his wrinkled eyelids and looked at the group. "Oh, right, you're mercenaries. You must be here for the quest to find the Sacred Pearl—are you still going?"

Hao Ren immediately tensed up. "What, is it blocked off now?"

"No, not quite," the parish chief shook his head. "But the situation around Holy Lake has been very unstable these past few days. Many mercenaries have already retreated. Plus, with the events of this afternoon, no one knows what kind of changes might occur near Holy Lake. It's not very wise to go rashly."

There were some things the parish chief couldn't say directly: the Sacred Pearl had been missing for two months. In those two months, the situation in the Bainz region had been deteriorating, with various abnormal phenomena emerging one after another. The increasing number of anomalies kept the Church knights and the Kingdom knights busy. Honestly, finding the Pearl was just one of many chaotic events… and its significance was diminishing.

But he couldn't say such things from the mouth of a devout believer.

Nangong Wuyue stepped forward. "We know it's dangerous, but we have to go. We still need to find someone."

"Find someone?" The parish chief raised his eyes to look at her.

"Um, well…" Since the conversation had reached this point, Hao Ren took the opportunity to mention the mysterious woman. "...Someone like this. She should have stayed in this town for a couple of days."

"I don't know who you're talking about, but I can give you a pass," the parish chief took out a pre-filled form from a stack of documents on the table and carefully stamped it with two seals. "May the Goddess's mercy protect you."

Hao Ren and the others took the pass and backed out of the parish chief's room. The serious man who had led them there earlier was standing outside the door, seemingly waiting there the whole time. "I'll take you to the Knights' garrison to rest."

Because mercenaries had been entering the Bainz region from all over the Kingdom for the past two months, the small town no longer had any inns or residences to accommodate these outsiders. Therefore, many mercenaries were scattered and housed in the garrisons of the two major knightly orders.

Lily was always in a carefree state. After coming out of the church, she skipped along next to Hao Ren. "That old man seemed pretty easy to get along with. I thought the parish chief would be a rigid old man."

"Ahem, don't say that," Hao Ren coughed twice. However, the black-robed monk leading the way didn't seem to react to what Lily said. "Speaking of which, that woman doesn't seem to have come to Leiton Town."

"Can you get to the Blood Lake area without passing through Leiton Town?" Vivian looked at Becky.

"You can, but…" Becky didn't know why this group of people was so concerned about a traveler they had never even met, but she still answered seriously, "But that would mean directly crossing the Twisted Forest, which is a dangerous area. Taking the official road and Church outposts outside of town to enter the Blood Lake area is a safer route. People are always traveling on that road, and there are regular patrols to clear it. There are also long-lasting warning formations on both sides of the road. But if you enter the Twisted Forest directly from somewhere else, it won't be so safe—you might be attacked by magical beasts."

"Hopefully nothing will happen." Hao Ren sincerely prayed for that unknown visitor from another world, but he didn't know if calling out Raven 12345's name at the end of his prayer would work. That was the greatest tragedy of being a genuine "saint": ordinary believers could rest easy when praying to their God, whether God listened or not, at least the believers themselves were at ease. But Hao Ren, who chatted with God every now and then, didn't dare to be so sincere. He felt uneasy even mentioning his God's name; that goddess sister wasn't much more reliable than the husky beside him…

Izhaks hadn't said a word since entering the church, probably because the atmosphere inside made him uncomfortable. He finally breathed a sigh of relief when he came out. "Why would… a marshal of a country come to a place like this?"

Hao Ren thought of Marshal Aufra, whom he had just met. Beautiful women always easily left a deep impression, especially when that woman had so many incredible traits. But Hao Ren was now a man who had seen the world. He didn't have any other thoughts about Marshal Aufra; he just felt that such a woman and the various halos behind her seemed very mismatched. "Probably to investigate the Sacred Pearl… it seems to be a big deal. I really didn't expect the Kingdom's marshal to be a young woman."

"That sounds biased!" Becky's admiration for Marshal Aufra seemed to have become a bit obsessive. Hearing Hao Ren's words, she immediately jumped up. "What's wrong with being a young woman?! Are you prejudiced against age or gender? Let me tell you, there are plenty of powerful female warriors. Look at me, I'm pretty strong—and who told you Marshal Aufra was young? She's several hundred years old, okay…"

"Several hundred years old?!" Hao Ren was startled. "She's not human?"

"Marshal Aufra is a descendant of the Ancient Races," Becky looked at Hao Ren. "How isolated does the Northern Empire have to be to produce a weirdo like you?"

"Ancient Races, oh, oh, Ancient Races," Hao Ren chuckled awkwardly. "It's nothing, it's nothing. It seems you really admire her."

"Of course, I admire her," Becky's eyes were practically glowing green. "No female mercenary doesn't admire her. She's a legendary female warrior. It's said that she was a famous hero hundreds of years ago, pacifying several rebellions on the Kingdom's borders. And ever since she started serving the Holleta royal family, she's been the sword instructor of every crown prince. How amazing is that?"

Hao Ren didn't know what to say, so he could only continue to chuckle awkwardly. "Heh, heh…"

It was impossible to communicate with Becky in this state.