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Chapter 11: The Will of Both Parties
Inside the temporarily occupied hall, the lighting alternated between bright and dim. Candlelight was deliberately reduced, casting dim light that traced deep grooves in the wood.
In the quiet corners, there was an eerie atmosphere permeating the air.
The occupants were not accustomed to the bright firelight. However, as long as the pale-faced middle-aged man with an eyepatch sitting at the center of the table didn't speak, no one dared to act rashly.
If Su Fei were present, he might recognize this man, as his appearance had hardly changed over the past decade or so: he was Targus, the right hand of the 'Black Lord' Enstallone, the vampire baron known as 'One-eyed' Targus. He belonged to the Mannlein family, the fourteenth-generation vampire, and was one of the younger generation. However, in terms of experience within the Madara army, he surpassed Enstallone, who was like an immature kid compared to him.
But that didn't matter. This was just the beginning of their cooperation—
Targus watched as the skeleton soldiers moved piles of documents out of the archive. After a while, he turned to the skeletal wizard beside him and asked, "So. Why did Roscoe leave you behind?"
"Respected General Targus, my master discovered a scout in that estate," the skeletal wizard replied in a hoarse voice, bowing its head.
"And?" Targus glanced at it, his gaze returning to the tactical map spread out before him.
"He escaped."
There were a few disdainful chuckles from around the room.
The vampire general raised his head, and the slight sound immediately subsided. After a pause, he said, "I understand that Roscoe did well. But I expect better. I don't want him to be distracted by these trivial matters. I want to see him reach Beldor Forest by noon."
The skeletal wizard nodded respectfully and retreated.
But as soon as it left, discordant voices filled the meeting room. This time, it was a tall skeleton clad in an old brass armor, with flickering flames of dark yellow in its eye sockets, showing a resentful expression: "Lord Targus, perhaps the humans have discovered our intentions. That scout—"
It opened its mouth, but no sound came from its hollow jawbone. Because it saw Targus staring at it with his remaining eye, a gaze that instinctively made it shut its mouth.
Around it came a wave of low laughter, the mockery within it causing the flames in its eyes to flicker in annoyance.
"Kabirus."
"Yes, lord!" The tall skeleton straightened up immediately.
"Take this location," Targus pointed to a village on the map.
"Before sunrise," he gestured to the roof, "I want to see the results—"
"Yes, Lord Targus."
"Wesah, Eberton."
"Yes, lord!" Came the unanimous reply.
"Attack Weyburn and block Dagger River Bank."
"Yes, Lord Targus."
"Ravensbeak."
"Yes, lord!"
"Take two squads and clear this area."
"Yes, lord!"
Targus looked up, scanning everyone coldly. "You are all nobles of the darkness. We expect to see you execute my every command with grace and speed, without a single mistake. Ridenburg is our next target."
He stood up, placing his pale hand on his left shoulder, and chanted, "Madara will triumph—"
The undead all stood tall, responding in deep voices, "Madara will triumph—"
Targus lowered his head, his gaze once again on the map. He first looked at the Red Pine Forest south of Buchi, then moved up to Green Village, Beldor Forest, followed by Ridenburg —continuing upward to Thornstone Valley.
Human scout? He sneered inwardly.
……
Meanwhile, within the pine forest, the full moon cast its ethereal glow upon the treetops. While no wolf howls echoed through the mountains of Usson, the wind stirred amidst the black pine forest. This cold breeze, akin to wispy tendrils of smoke, weaved through the branches, sending shivers down the spine.
The young people of Buchi had never spent a night in the wild, and the foggy darkness of the forest always made them a little paranoid, as if every shadow hid a terrifying monster.
But one voice calmed them down.
"Hold this position."
"Yes, like this."
"Water—"
"Give me the bandage."
"Tighten it."
Finally, it was done. Su Fei wiped his sweat and let out a long breath.
He saw a faint green +2 floating above the young man's body, and only then did he relax.
After reaching the basic level (Level 0) of first aid skill, the effect of bandaging naturally improved. This was no different from the game. Every confirmation from Su Fei's memory made him feel much more at ease.
He guided Markumi and Neiberto through every step: how to clean wounds, prevent infections, stop bleeding, bandage, and what details to pay attention to. Of course, he didn't have the physical strength to do it himself. He was only slightly better than the unconscious Jason.
When Neiberto completed the final step under his guidance, Su Fei looked up and found everyone staring at him in astonishment.
Professional.
That was the only comment in their minds.
Even little Phineas turned around to Freya behind him and earnestly said, "Big sis, it seems like your skills are indeed a bit lacking compared to his—"
As for Freya standing on the sidelines, her expression was as cold as ice.
Sure enough, that shameless scoundrel had been making excuses to get close to her! She couldn't help but conclude and then glance worriedly at Roma, only to see the latter counting the loot on the ground with a joyful expression.
That dummy.
But unfortunately, only Su Fei knew that all this knowledge came from the skill of 'Battlefield First Aid.' Only when he recalled this skill from the list did all this knowledge come back to him. In the memories of Su Fei, most of the basic field first aid knowledge came from the first three sections of "Gerson's Holy Cross," a book that Su Fei happened to know from the game, where Gerson was the current high priest of Braggs.
He felt as if he had witnessed the content of this book countless times, as if he had learned emergency medical treatment through cheating.
Unfortunately, cheating always came at a cost—
And on the other hand.
Su Fei quickly learned that, in fact, the third militia squad in Buchi had a total of ten members, including Freya. In order, they were Markumi, Ethan, Ekko, little Phineas, all of whom Su Fei was familiar with.
Then there were the less talkative Neiberto and Vlad, two brothers who migrated from the mountains in the Bora region. They adhered to the silent nature of the locals, preferring action over words.
Next was Jason, who was currently unconscious, with little chance of waking up anytime soon.
Following him was the dreamy Miss Merchant and the girl with her. Su Fei later learned that the other girl was the daughter of the town baker, but she seemed a bit shy and reserved, unlike the other two ladies.
This girl was named Bessa, gentle by nature, but at least she was a kind-hearted girl.
These were all the people Su Fei needed to deal with. They all seemed like excellent young individuals, but Su Fei knew they were just a group of rookies who had no idea what they were about to face.
So he paused for a moment before asking, "Do you guys have any plans?"
The smiles on everyone's faces disappeared in an instant, replaced by silence.
"Let’s go to Ridenburg," Ethan proposed after a moment.
"Yes, Chief Marden and his team are definitely going there too," Ekko chimed in.
As expected, but Su Fei shook his head.
He looked up at these young people, seeing the silent anxiety and uncertainty about tomorrow on their faces. Even though Freya seemed a bit better, her white-knuckled grip on her sword betrayed her true feelings.
Only Roma answered matter-of-factly, "I'm staying with Brandon."
This response simultaneously amused and frustrated Su Fei. But the blunt honesty of this merchant girl was endearing, so after a moment, he said, "Well, I agree with you on one thing—right now, our priority is to leave this place."
"So, there's disagreement?" Freya asked.
Su Fei nodded. "Does anyone have a map?"
The group looked at each other. Who would have such a thing? While they were militiamen, in most cases, they followed the orders of the local guard. Ultimately, they were just reserves.
And Su Fei also realized his mistake. Carrying a map without the authorization of the temple in Eruin would be seen as espionage. He had always considered himself an outsider and forgot that he was now a part of this world.
And here, there were no players anymore.
"The guard might have one..." Markumi stammered from the back of the crowd.
Su Fei shook his head, thinking, wasn't that obvious? He sighed and turned to the merchant girl beside him. "Roma, give me a sword."
"Okay, Brandon."
Su Fei took the sword and drew two lines on the soft ground.
"This is the Wesha River, and this is the Usson River."
He pointed between the two rivers with the tip of the sword. "Here's Buchi, here's Green Village, and here's Weyburn."
He sketched out a rough outline, but it broadened the horizons of the young people once again. After all, in this era, few people had his level of understanding of the world.
"So those are the locations of the three towns?" Bessa couldn't help but cover her mouth in surprise.
"This is amazing, so this is what our area looks like." Ekko looked at Su Fei with some admiration.
"Buchi turns out to be here."
"Brandon, how did you know?" The crowd bombarded him with questions, as they were still young and couldn't contain their curiosity.
Su Fei shook his head.
Seriously, if he couldn't even recognize the three newbie villages, he might as well find a brick wall and knock himself out. Of course, he couldn't answer like that. Instead, he asked deliberately, "Haven't you learned about tactical maps?"
Tactical maps? What's that?
Everyone looked bewildered.
Oh Lady Marsha. Did Bragg's militia even have to learn this?
For a moment, they couldn't help but feel a bit awestruck.
But Su Fei chuckled inwardly. Even regular soldiers of lower ranks in a regular army wouldn't necessarily have access to tactical maps, let alone militia. Of course, he wouldn't expose himself. Instead, he pointed to the confluence of the two rivers.
"Here's Ridenburg."
"Ah, this is Ridenburg?" Roma asked curiously.
"What's wrong?" Su Fei heard stifled laughter around him and couldn't help but raise his head to ask.
"Well, Brandon, Roma used to envy the merchants in Ridenburg so much that she used to always talk about going there to do big business. Once, she ran out claiming she was going to Ridenburg to make a fortune, but—"
People couldn't help but chuckle.
"But what happened?" Su Fei asked.
"Haha, she got lost in the forest halfway there, and Uncle Syl had to go find her and bring her back." Little Phineas laughed heartily.
"N-No, that's not what happened," Roma's eyebrows shot up.
Su Fei glanced at the future merchant and couldn't help but think that she hadn't learned her lesson.
"Alright, let's get back on track. Why do you want to go to Ridenburg?" He collected his thoughts and continued.
"They have an army there."
"Chief Marden and his team will definitely go there."
"So will my uncle." Everyone once again chimed in, but their sentiments were the same. They all had their own relatives, and although they had been separated for a while, there was a possibility of reuniting with them in Ridenburg.
This answer left Su Fei somewhat unable to refute. It was normal; who would leave their loved ones behind? But he also knew that most of the people who escaped from Buchi would likely be caught up by Madara's army. And going to Ridenburg now would only be walking into a trap.
Su Fei was very clear that they had to advance parallel to the 'Death God' Kabirus, then slip past Dagger River Bank before Eberton and Wesah could encircle them. From there, they would enter the Deer Hunting Forest, skirt past Enstallone's main force, and inform the local guard of Enstallone's flank movement plan.
Only in this way could they survive, and Eruin wouldn't be defeated as badly as in history.
But how was he going to say it?
Forget it, it’s still better to take it step by step. He rubbed his slightly heavy forehead and changed his tone. "Fine, we can head towards Ridenburg first and decide what to do next depending on the situation."
Then he looked up and met Freya's worried gaze, the girl obviously not quite believing his words.
"You don’t want us to go there, do you?"
"No. I just have something else in mind. But maybe things will change." He smiled at Freya. But even as he said it, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Reality was cruel, forcing him to make choices while still weak. Of course, if given the chance, he would definitely try to find a way.
As expected of a shu-in, so naive.
He couldn't help but mock himself inwardly.
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