The leader of Group One was helped up by other guards from the ground, somewhat in disbelief.
So quickly? So easily?
Uh... it didn’t seem easy.
There were thirty or forty people lying down, and a few had died.
At this moment, Lin Ke, covered in blood, was already standing on top of the carriage and shouted loudly, "The glory of Azanen shelters us!"
"The glory of Azanen..."
The guards murmured, looking at each other, still somewhat in a daze.
"The glory of Azanen!" Then John ran out, waving his little fists and shouting.
The guards looked at each other, then had a moment of clarity, and immediately raised the blades in their hands, shouting in unison:
"The glory of Azanen!"
"The glory of Azanen!"
"The glory of Azanen!"
Some of the servants were also excited and began to shout along.
And as they shouted, their eyes also began to focus on Lin Ke.
Some of them vaguely remembered the rumors from before.
The rumor that their young master had publicly declared yesterday that he was the "King of Azanen."
Now, they looked at that small figure, their eyes showing an expression of reverence.
The people of the convoy looked at Lin Ke’s blood-stained figure on top of the carriage. In the sunlight, he seemed to be shining brightly.
At this moment, Lin Ke blinked his eyes.
[You have emitted an irreplaceable aura of leadership, driving back the invading enemies]
[Mission Reward: Pending Collection]
The mission was successful!
Lin Ke wasn’t too happy but instead let out a deep sigh of relief.
He wasn’t looking at the system for the rewards but to check if the invaders had truly been repelled.
If they were truly repelled, then the mission should show as successful.
Now that the mission was successful, it seemed that those two dark blue tigers wouldn’t come back.
Lin Ke relaxed a bit and also clicked on the mission reward.
At this moment, amidst the cheering crowd, Lin Ke’s mother climbed onto the carriage top with hands and feet, disregarding her composure. Ignoring the bloodstains, she hugged Lin Ke directly.
As soon as she hugged him, she couldn’t stop crying.
"Wuwuwu, Little Lin Ke... wuwuwu... it was so dangerous just now... wuwu..."
Crying for a long time without saying a complete sentence.
Lin Ke helplessly put the sword aside and gently patted his mother’s back to comfort her.
His own mother was always a twenty-five-year-old girl...
Meanwhile, the guards and servants began to take care of the wounded, as there were too many injured just now.
After a while, Lin Ke’s mother cried herself to sleep.
Lin Ke estimated that his mother had never gone into battle with that scoundrel father of his, otherwise she wouldn’t have cried so badly at such a small scene.
Having the servants take his mother away, he began to deal with the aftermath of the battle.
"Mighty Mr. Lin Ke, please allow me to follow you! Until the stars fall, the world collapses, the rules are destroyed... I will follow you unto death."
Suddenly, the Rabbitman Knicks approached Lin Ke, knelt with one knee, and said respectfully.
The system reward had come, a follower who would never betray.
And the servants and guards around who saw the scene felt a sense of solemnity and envy.
Solemnity because what Rabbitman Knicks said was the heaviest of oaths, equivalent to giving himself entirely to Lin Ke.
Envy because these servants and guards didn’t even have the opportunity to follow.
Their status was too low, just commoners.
Unless they had special qualities or gained recognition, Rabbitman, they didn’t even have the qualification to follow a noble.
"Stand up, Knicks," Lin Ke helped the furry Knicks up, the feel was very nice.
"Yes, sir." Rabbitman Knicks obediently stood up.
"Wait for me in the carriage, I still have things to ask you. Right now, I need to handle some things on the battlefield," Lin Ke said softly.
Knicks nodded in agreement, then turned into a white blur as he quickly dashed back.
Lin Ke also descended, saying, "Take the bodies of the fallen back for cremation, let the injured rest well in the carriage, and have the guards continue patrolling!"
The guards shouted loudly, their voices much louder, with smiles on their faces.
After experiencing their first victory, they were full of enthusiasm and spirit.
Although some of them had just gripped their sword hilts tightly and made sure not to stab anyone in front of them.
But morale often accumulates from small to large this way.
"Young master, what about the fleeing Roosevelt?" At this time, the leader of Group Three stepped forward to ask.
After all, he was killed by Lin Ke with a single sword strike.
"He was a deserter! You know what a deserter is!"
Lin Ke sighed inwardly, gathering all those feelings of pity without revealing any, and said in an attempt to sound very angry, "His body will not be allowed to be cremated! Just throw it into the woods to be devoured by jackals!"
He now had to instill in all the guards the sense that fleeing meant death, but fighting still offered the chance for survival and honor.
Only then, when encountering battles in the future, they wouldn’t scatter.
"Young master... not allowed to cremate the body?"
The leader of Group Three was stunned, seemingly unable to believe it and asked again, "I mean, Roosevelt just fled, and I think..."
In the customs here, the deceased must be cremated, otherwise their souls would be found by ancient and cruel Necromancers after death and endure endless pain in imprisonment.
Much like in a previous life, if they couldn’t be buried, they would be haunted by spirits.
At least here, Necromancers had indeed existed in history.
"Hmm?" Upon hearing the words of Group Three’s leader, Lin Ke’s face changed from anger to seriousness.
Seeing Lin Ke’s expression, the leader of Group Three, although a man in his twenties, hurriedly lowered his head in panic, "No, no, no, he deserved to die, he deserved to die!"
Lin Ke snorted coldly, stood up, looked around, and said loudly, "Do you know why I killed Roosevelt? Do you think he shouldn’t have died!"
He realized that many of these people were just old farmers before, and they knew nothing about morale, the domino effect, the leading sheep effect, or the broken window effect.
Not only did they not know, but they would also question his decisions!
In an era when communication was not developed, lacking centralized power could easily lead to power usurpation or rampant corruption.
He must establish authority!
Military authority was not yet feasible, but authority in knowledge and thought needed to be established first!
He was that authority!
"Roosevelt was a deserter! Do you know what a deserter is!" Lin Ke said harshly, directly shouting:
"At that time, Roosevelt wanted to run, and many others wanted to run! If one person ran, a second person would follow! In the end, everyone would run!"
"Those two ferocious tigers would first kill everyone here, then catch up with you and kill you one by one! Do you think you can outrun those two tigers awakened with bloodline power?"
Those two tigers were very fast just now, with keen senses; even Rabbitman Knicks couldn’t shake them off despite his speed.
"Even if one or two managed to escape, where would you go? Back to Azaenn Castle? Do you think who would take in a deserter who abandoned us? Being spared from execution would be a mercy."
"Or survive in the wilderness on your own? Do you know how to hunt? Do you know how to make a fire? What if your clothes tear? What if you get sick? Not to mention other dire circumstances..."
Lin Ke finished speaking in one breath, using a series of questions to leave the guards speechless.
Only now did they realize just how severe the consequences of desertion were!
Lin Ke saw the guards start to use their limited intellect to think one by one, and his expression eased before speaking again, "To the three team leaders, I will reward Group One with ten gold coins, and Groups Two and Three with six each! Distribute them fairly!"
"This is to reward Group One’s achievement in wounding the giant tiger!"