65: Chapter 53 Returning to the Rightful Owner_2 65: Chapter 53 Returning to the Rightful Owner_2 Boris’s voice grew lower and lower, only because the surroundings had fallen into an eerie moment of silence.
Leon looked at this clown with pity, completely unmoved by such ridiculous accusations.
The words Boris had yet to blurt out got stuck in his throat.
Seeing the icy stares of the noble masters around him, an instinctual fear took hold of his heart.
“Lord?” Boris looked uneasily toward the lord, his expression one of confusion.
“You mean to say, this spy from Kantadar, has wiped out the Kantadar army that attacked the village?”
Baron Eriv’s eyes twitched as he watched Boris’s reaction, easily deduced this fool had misunderstood the youth, and immediately lost interest in the accusation.
“Alright, take him down,” Eriv waved his hand, signaling his house servants to take Boris away.
Those three little brats, wiped out the Kantadar army?
How could it be possible?!
Boris’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.
His poor imagination didn’t allow him to correlate the lord’s words with reality.
He remembered that on that night, hiding in the roadside bushes, he had clearly seen at least fifty fearsome cavalry charging toward the village.
With those three vagabond slave-like foreign boys?
Boris’s back flinched as he was hoisted up by a knight once more.
No, something must have been mistaken!
Even if these three outsiders weren’t Kantadar spies, they must be little liars full of nonsense!
Wipe out a Kantadar army?
There must be another explanation; they’ve fooled all the noble masters with their tall tales!
Boris could not believe these three little rascals could stand a chance against an army!
If they truly had such capabilities, how could they have ended up looking like wretched beggars in the first place?
I’m not talking nonsense!
How could they possibly have wiped out more than fifty vicious cavalrymen?
This little scoundrel is full of lies, you mustn’t be deceived by him!
When he first arrived, he even claimed to have traversed the Nightmare Forest to reach Selva!
Listen to that, does it sound like something an honest person would say?
Clearly, it’s nonsense from someone who doesn’t understand the dangers!
They really have a dubious history!
Even if they’re not spies, they’re certainly fugitives!” Boris exclaimed indignantly as he was lifted.
Baron Eriv suddenly furrowed his brows.
He didn’t care much about the loudmouth’s previous doubts.
After all, Boris didn’t seem to know about the beast companion of the young man.
And a griffin could easily crush a few dozen unprepared stragglers.
Though Eriv hadn’t seen the griffin himself upon arrival, since the general had arrived earlier and said it was there, it certainly wouldn’t be a lie to himself.
The youth claimed to have crossed the “Nightmare Forest”?
Baron Eriv, troubled by his own concerns, still felt a rising doubt.
Hearing Boris’s challenge, Trosa also paused in bewilderment.
That terrible forest, at least in the central and western parts of the Orland Kingdom, is something anyone but the most ignorant would have heard about.
As for this natural border separating the south of Kosos County from Kantadar, the Old Earl was naturally very familiar with it.
The people of Orland referred to it as the “Nightmare Forest.”
The Kantadar people called it the “Panglos Forest.”
The margins of that forest might be safe, but venture just a little deeper, and no one would ever return.
From afar, no birds or clouds could be seen trailing over the core regions of the Nightmare Forest.
It was as though it bore the outward signs of the Cursed Land as told in legends.
And since Orland had historical records, no one had ever safely returned from venturing into it, let alone the talk of traversing it.
The Old Earl remembered many related legends.
Like the one about a courageous noble from history who didn’t believe in curses.
He tied a very long rope around his waist and ventured deep into the Nightmare Forest, hoping to use it to find his way back.
the sturdy rope, specially crafted by magicians, went slack before it had all been unfurled.
And the servants who pulled the rope back, saw only a clean, smooth cut across its length.
Trosa looked at Baron Eriv, whose face quickly revealed a growing suspicion.
In fact, that disbelieving courageous noble…
was an ancestor of the Thorny Flower family.
And if the Old Earl remembered correctly, being a noble family with lands adjoining the Nightmare Forest, the Thorny Flower family had more than one ancestor attempt to enter it throughout its history.
Full of a fearless spirit that seemed to be some hereditary obsession passed down through generations.
Not to mention more recent events.
Baron Eriv’s father, the previous Baron Farolis, was rumored to have disappeared twenty years ago after venturing into the Nightmare Forest.
“Young man, I haven’t yet asked you this question, but this man claims you declared to have crossed the Nightmare Forest, is this true?”
Trosa looked seriously at Leon.
After speaking, without waiting for Leon’s reply, the Old Earl continued with a reminder and advice, “Now speak truthfully about your real journey to Orland, and be sure to answer us without lies.
If you have a different background, even if you are burdened with serious crimes, there is no need to fear punishment.
I assure you, on my honor, your acts of valor and wartime merits here are enough to absolve most crimes within Orland, so simply tell us your true history.”
Upon hearing this, Leon couldn’t help but feel a bit grateful towards the old noble referred to by everyone as the general.
For a noble of this era to offer such a guarantee in front of so many knights — it was not something to be taken lightly or reneged upon.