Chapter 777: The Hunting Party

In Peace Haven's Southern District, a company of soldiers waits while officials from Lumir carry out their inspection.

They are bound for Lumir, where they will help hunt down calamity creatures that slipped through the defenses.

More than two hundred strong, the company is led by a battalion commander from Peace Haven's Eighth Legion.

The commander is Tuge, formerly a centurion in the First Garrison Legion.

After fighting in the Bloodfire Assault Battle, he was promoted and transferred to the newly established Eighth Legion in Peace Haven's Southern District.

With Tuge's record, he should have made deputy warband commander by now.

Promotions move more slowly without a war in the region.

His accumulated merit put him among the first Peace Haven soldiers to receive an enhancement potion.

He reached the Knight Rank two years ago. Perhaps he is unusually gifted, or perhaps years of preparation finally paid off.

Whatever the reason, he became a Battle Knight in only two years.

His appointment as deputy warband commander has already been signed. It will take effect once this mission ends.

Tuge will then transfer to the Southern District Reserve Legion.

The two hundred soldiers under him are all elites from the Sixteenth Warband of the Eighth Legion.

Most are centurions or squad leaders, and more than half have become Knights.

The company also has two Battle Knights besides Tuge.

Their mission area lies three hundred li south of Holy Lake City, on the northern edge of the Tranquil Sea.

The Tranquil Sea is Lumir's largest inland lake, though it is vast enough to deserve the name inland sea.

It covers more than twenty thousand square kilometers.

Underground waterways connect it to the open sea. Its water is far saltier than fresh water, but noticeably less salty than seawater.

The Tranquil Sea is Lumir's largest fishing region, so clearing its calamity creatures takes priority whenever the Subterranean River Bandits appear.

Peace Haven has sent more than ten companies like Tuge's to the lands around the Tranquil Sea.

Tuge's company will split into ten squads of ten to twenty soldiers each.

Whenever necessary, those squads must regroup at speed.

Once inside Lumir, Tuge's company proceeds to the Tranquil Sea under the watch of the Holy Lake Knights.

Every squad already has an assigned area marked on the map.

Before they deploy, Tuge addresses his soldiers. "Everyone, our mission is important."

"We did not come here out of charity!"

"We are here to gather every scrap of information on the Subterranean River Bandits and, if possible, capture live specimens."

"Before long, we will face these unknown creatures on our own soil."

"We need enough intelligence to prepare before Peace Haven comes under threat."

"I know all of you want to do as much as possible, but your lives matter just as much as the mission."

"I came up through the ranks beside soldiers like you. I understand how badly you want to earn merit."

"But Peace Haven needs us alive."

"One day, all of you will be mid-ranking commanders in Peace Haven's legions, leading more soldiers against the calamity creatures."

"The experience you gain here will matter when the Calamity War reaches Peace Haven."

"Stay alive, and you can serve Peace Haven where it matters most."

"Follow the mission protocols to the letter. The instant the enemy exceeds the warning threshold, retreat and preserve your lives."

With that, the squad leaders take their men to their assigned areas.

Each squad covers several dozen square kilometers. The moment a warning beacon rises over a village or town, they must race to its aid.

Even if no calamity creature shows itself, they must search for tracks and hunt it down.

A month earlier, an army of Subterranean River Bandits suddenly poured out at Lumir's Subterranean Waterways Front.

Obilian had massed troops there, while Peace Haven engineering teams had built plenty of fortresses.

The attack came without warning. Many Subterranean River Bandits still broke through the defensive line.

Their trails suggest that quite a few reached the Tranquil Sea.

As Lumir's inland fishery, the region holds an abundance of fish and other aquatic resources.

If the Subterranean River Bandits seize it, they will quickly turn the region into a supply base.

That is why Obilian agreed to Peace Haven's proposal and allowed its elite troops into Lumir to hunt them.

The next day, one of Tuge's squads finds signs of the Subterranean River Bandits.

Its leader, Akta, first realizes something is wrong when they discover an injured deer in the wild.

The wounds aren't from an animal. Something struck the deer with a sharp weapon.

The fifteen soldiers immediately follow the deer's trail backward.

More than an hour later, a village appears in the distance, and Akta reaches for the map.

Nadal, one of his two deputies, speaks first. "Lanku Village. They grow a flower here, mostly for perfume and essential oils."

"It falls under Grayearth Town and belongs to Viscount Miboka of Lumir."

"Lumir's Thirty-Third Garrison Legion guards the area. It is a new force raised for the Calamity War and has only eight thousand soldiers."

Akta glances at him. "Nadal, that memory of yours really is something!"

Nadal snorts. "Pay more attention and even you could remember simple mission intelligence like this!"

Akta spreads his hands. "If my memory were that good, I would have gotten into an academy of higher learning. Why would I have enlisted right after graduation?"

Berio, the other deputy, cuts in. "Enough. What now? Report this to the local garrison and the noble, then organize a sweeping search?"

Akta frowns. "They don't want to leave their posts. They are doing everything they can to stay away from the fighting."

Nadal shakes his head. "What they do is their problem. The agreement only requires us to notify them."

"Lumir is afraid of us, but still wants us to do the work. Let's not give them anything they can hold against us."

Akta nods. "Then we notify them and keep tracking the enemy."

"Let's begin with Lanku Village and see if anyone there has found a clue."

The squad rides to the edge of the village and stops.

Once they present Lumir's travel papers, the militia captain leads them inside.

Only a few hundred people live there.

In this age, some villagers may live and die without ever setting foot in a proper town, let alone a city.

Most soldiers they encounter belong to a noble household. Even garrison troops are a rare sight.

To most villagers, the town constables or their own militia are the strongest armed forces they have ever seen.

Akta and his men look like warriors who have walked straight out of legend.

The towering horses and fully armored soldiers make an intimidating sight.

Every soldier carries a lance, with a sectional Heart-Piercing Lotus secured behind it.

A round shield rests on each man's back, a longsword hangs at his waist, and a concealed wrist crossbow hides beneath his bracer shield.

A saber hangs from the left front of each saddle and a heavy crossbow from the right. Even the horses wear light armor.

Their cloaks are blood-red and black. Henwell's personal crest marks the left shoulder, while the Eighth Legion's emblem marks the right: a longsword driven through a skull.

Ten pack mules laden with supplies trail the fifteen cavalrymen.

The villagers stare at the soldiers armed to the teeth. Even the village elder and militia captain scarcely dare to breathe.

Surely these must be the legendary Holy Lake Knights!