171: Chapter 99: Selecting the Guard 171: Chapter 99: Selecting the Guard Along the country dirt road, eighty-something conscripted soldiers carrying their own weapons followed their two lords in a long formation, protecting several cargo-laden carts on the side of the mountain with the help of a dozen merchant guards.
The front carts carried military weapons and tools among other supplies.
The rear carts were filled with bags of piled high food.
At the very front, two young knights in plate armor were the lords Azeryan and Lokhak, who hadn’t returned home for many days.
The group of over a hundred people slowly moved forward, circled around the hillside, and soon entered the territory of Selva.
With the long line in tow, Azeryan and Lokhak entered Selva Village, checked the goods, and supervised the soldiers as they moved the military supplies and food into the village’s large house warehouse.
“Milord, look, should we also settle the remaining money now?” the merchant leader asked respectfully, bowing to the busy Azeryan.
Seeing the merchants’ urgency, Azeryan had no choice but to send Lokhak home to get money from Leon to settle the final payment with these long-distance merchants.
If they didn’t hurry up with the payment, those few merchants were going to be terrified by the great number of spear-and-sword-carrying soldiers around the village.
The conscripted soldiers traveling with the merchant caravan to Selva were merely coincidental and convenient.
Yet it nearly led the merchants to believe they were being tricked into a remote area where they would be left with nothing.
The merchants had heard from their peers that some impoverished local lords occasionally pretended to be bandits to rob merchant caravans.
The knightly oaths at some noble ceremonies were often nothing more than pretty words…
“Ah, what’s the rush, not all goods are unloaded yet, you won’t miss your money,” Lokhak said to the merchant with a sigh.
Having vented, but long residing in Longka, he had indeed been eagerly wishing to see his friends and family again and thus waved his hand and returned to Leon’s residence.
In the backyard, he found his long-missed older sister.
The tall young man joyously lifted up his increasingly healthier looking family member, shamelessly acted coquettishly for a while, and then remembering his duty, put down his sister and quickly ran upstairs.
Upon reaching Leon’s room, he saw Little Lina sneakily crouching by the door, listening intently with her cheek against it, her face suspiciously flushed.
Seeing a long-missed figure, the maid let out a soft exclamation, “Ah!
But she quickly put her finger to her lips, shushing him quietly, “Shhh~~~…”
Curiosity piqued, Lokhak instinctively lightened his steps and approached the girl, a puzzled look in his eyes.
Little Lina waved him over, signaling the tall young man to lower his head, then stood on her toes and whispered into his ear, “These past days…
brother Leon and sister Olivia…
they might be inside…
Mid-sentence, the wildly imaginative young girl couldn’t help but close her eyes, her face burning hot from the unutterable imaginings, “…they…
“!” Lokhak first rejoiced, marveling at his friends’ rapid progression.
It had been only a few days, and they had already progressed to this stage with Olivia.
But then he reconsidered and was startled.
Though he was overjoyed and felt blessed about Leon and Olivia’s astonishing relationship…
What did it mean that Kovis was also inside?
Had Leon, through his daily interactions with that young man, unwittingly followed the irredeemable path laid by old man Pilireno?
Lokhak felt heartbroken and stomped his feet in frustration.
His expression turned serious!
He immediately bowed his head.
He and Lina stealthily pressed their ears against the door.
Muffled intimate sounds indeed seemed to be coming from inside the room.
This led Lokhak to lament his brother’s moral decline.
That didn’t sound right …
why did it sound like Leon was the one making the noise?
Before he could listen closely, the heavily armored Lokhak, with his considerable strength, accidentally pushed open the unlocked door.
“Ouch~!” Lina cried out in surprise, unbalanced and tumbling inside.
Caught off guard, Lokhak also stumbled into the room.
Sitting at the desk, engrossed in the complex Magic Guidebook, Olivia looked up, puzzled at the sudden entrance.
Leon, who was lying on the bed with a sore back from many days of special training, was receiving a professional massage and stretch from Kovis.
Hearing the noise, he looked up and beamingly recognized his long-separated friend.
When did you get here?”
Upon seeing the situation inside, Lokhak sheepishly touched the back of his head, “Ah?…
~heh, I just got back.”
The tall young man turned, glanced at Little Lina, who was sheepishly smirking and shyly avoiding eye contact, and couldn’t help but laugh and flick her forehead lightly.
“Ow~” Lina rubbed her forehead and swiftly turned red-faced to slip away.
Lokhak sighed, wondering what absurd things that girl was imagining all day long in her head.
He pulled up a chair to sit down, intending to chat with his friends but then noticed the unusual colors of Leon’s hair and eyes.
Hearing Lokhak’s astonished reaction, Leon pointed at his eyes and said helplessly, “Magic…
just call it magic, I also don’t understand what happened, I just woke up .”
Lokhak nodded knowingly, showing understanding; his friend’s secrets were indeed many, and he preferred not to probe too deeply.