A young man with thick eyebrows, also clad in knight armor, had kindled a bonfire under a large tree.
The tree's canopy was vast, its leaves broad and dense, offering excellent protection from the rain. Even the sporadic drops that fell were quickly sizzled away by the bonfire.
However, Rein had no intention of approaching, not because he was afraid but because he had no interest in dealing with strangers whose backgrounds were unknown to him.
Thus, Rein decided to ride on for a while before finding a place where he could rest alone.
Seemingly hearing the sound of hooves, the thick-eyebrowed knight looked up, saw Rein's solo rider with two horses attire, his face brightened, and he stood up to greet him, "Hey, I'm a knight heading to Rosby City for the knighthood examination. Judging by your attire, you must be too, right?"
The other's enthusiastic expression and frank introduction montarily stunned Rein.
Realizing Rein's hesitation, the man then took out a purple-gold badge from his bosom that was nearly identical to the one in Rein's hand and showed it to him.
At the sa ti, he said, "Look, this is the proof badge. If you're also going to Rosby City for the knighthood examination, you should be familiar with this item."
"Since we've t, it must be fate. Maybe we can help each other out during the exam, so don't be shy, co and take shelter from the rain."
Rein glanced at the badge and knew it should be authentic. Since the other party was so enthusiastic, it seed sowhat unkind to refuse further.
After thinking it over, Rein guided his black horse to slowly ride over.
"Hello, my na is Hass Klein, from Rosby County."
"Rein, ister County." Rein nodded and said.
After Rein dismounted, he sohow glanced slightly at the dense forests on either side. However, this action went unnoticed by the other party as Rein's face was covered by his knight's visor and the turn of his head was very subtle.
It seems... there are prying eyes...
And not just one person...
Interesting!
"Rein, did it take you several days to co from ister County?"
"The roads are rough in winter. Co, have a cup of hot barley wine to warm up." Hass was very enthusiastic, picking up the iron kettle heated by the fireside and handing it to Rein.
"Thank you, you're too kind, but I don't feel cold," Rein said, raising his hand and declining the iron wine kettle offered by Hass.
"With this freezing rain, how can you not be cold? Co on, Rein, don't be shy." Hass continued to warmly summon him, almost pushing the iron kettle into Rein's arms.
This made Rein raise an eyebrow and say, "Lord, you've played your part well enough, though it has been a bit too much."
This statent made Hass pause, his expression changing instantly.
He stared blankly at Rein for a mont, as if realizing Rein was not joking, then quickly stepped back a few paces and said, "How... how did you figure it out."
However, quickly realizing sothing, he clapped his hands sharply, "clap, clap."
Suddenly, the trees in the dense forest shook, and in a mont, about fifteen people burst out, wielding various weapons, and several held crossbow arrows. From their aura, most seed to be commoners with a few possessing the strength of knight's attendants.
The man leading them, wielding a chain mace, moved with steady strides and long breaths, likely possessing the strength of a formal knight.
"Are you a bandit gang? You don't seem like it; typically, bandit gangs wouldn't have two leaders of proper knightly rank," Rein spoke, focusing not on the people but on the young man known as 'Hass.'"
"Sergei, why waste words on this guy? Just kill him. Go!" The burly leader gestured and launched an attack on Rein.
Indeed, 'Hass' was a false na, and Sergei must be his real na.
However...
A chilling flash of sword light passed, and Rein suddenly held a Dual-Handed Greatsword in his hands.
"ROAR!!!!"
The next second, a sound akin to a giant bear's roar burst in everyone's ears, instantly causing most people to clutch their heads, their faces contorted in pain as they fell to the ground, including those bandits possessing the strength of knight's attendants.
Only the burly man and Sergei managed to barely stand their ground, yet their eardrums bled, and they stood dazedly.
"Thud! Thud!"
Two heavy thuds were heard.
The burly man and the one called Sergei both had their legs severed above the knees by Rein, and now their upper bodies lay on the ground, blood spurting.
"AHH!!" The two scread in unison.
"Now, perhaps you can tell who directed you, and... the origin of this proof badge," Rein said, his deanor calm.
"Go to hell, you bastard, you're done for..." the burly man retorted harshly.
However, the next second, he fell silent, his gaze turning to Rein in horror!
Because Rein had approached one of his subordinates and efficiently slit the man's throat, with an ease and nonchalance akin to slaughtering a chicken.
The second one...
...
The eighth one...
Soon, around the bonfire lay a circle of dead bandits!
Only the two n whose legs had been cut off and the leader nad Sergei were left alive.
The two seed to have forgotten the pain of their severed limbs, exchanged a look, and realized that this ti, they had kicked an iron plate.
They no longer needed Rein to prompt anything.
They quickly spilled everything, pouring out the details like bamboo tubes spilling beans.
Having heard them out, Rein frowned.
Turns out, there was a mysterious force known as 'Zaral's Rebellion' secretly backing them to carry out tasks that weaken the empire's strength, and their current mission was to assassinate young knights attending the knighthood examination.
Of course, if they could capture him alive, that would be even better. If successful, they would not only gain valuable armor and weapons but also be able to collect a substantial bounty with the purple-gold badge.
Moreover, there indeed was a young knight nad Hass, who had been drugged and was currently being held captive in the dense forest.
Enjoy new stories from empire
Rein swung his sword twice, promptly killing the two n.
After so thought, he ventured into the dense forest and soon discovered a tall young man clad in a thin linen shirt, bound by heavy iron shackles on his hands and feet and with a dirty cloth stuffed in his mouth, behind a large tree.
When he saw Rein, clad in knight armor, the bound man couldn't help but struggle and grunt.
"Clang! Clang!" Sparks flew everywhere.
Rein flourished his sword twice, instantly splitting the thick iron shackles.
The tall young man imdiately freed himself, swiftly pulled the dirty cloth from his mouth, and spat twice, saying, "Thank you for saving ! My na is Hass, from Rosby Shire."
"Rein, from ister Shire."
"Those deceitful, despicable creatures who drugged , were they all killed by Lord Rein? " Hass asked angrily.
"Hmm," Rein nodded.
"That's really great! Those despicable villains, they deserve to die!" Hearing that Rein had killed them, Hass burst into laughter.
Hass stripped the breastplate that originally belonged to him off a robust man and began to converse with Rein around the campfire.
Half an hour later.
The now-acquainted pair chatted while riding their horses together, heading toward Rosby City.
Although Rein did not fear the cold, it was obviously not a good idea to camp outside in the wintry rainy night.
The two arrived at the gate of Rosby City by dusk, and after showing the purple-gold badges, they were quickly escorted by a staff mber to their destination for this trip—the Naval Ho Inn.
At this mont, it was the ti when the red sunset was descending; a gentle breeze caressed his face, and Rein imdiately slled a faint scent of the sea.
He looked up, only to see, dozens of ters ahead, the vast and azure sea, with many white seabirds flying in the clear sky, including seagulls and albatrosses.
Along the coastline were densely packed white sails, each representing a boat; although these vessels varied greatly in size, they seed to be civilian fishing and transport ships.
However, a few hundred ters away, there were clearly several large four-masted ships that appeared to be so type of warship.
Rein pulled his gaze back and looked to his left, where there was a three-story building with a sign reading 'Naval Ho Inn' hanging above the door.
Across the street from the inn stood a towering bronze statue with a five-masted sail, plus a very spacious gate attended by four guards in blue uniforms.
Rein squinted his eyes and saw, written in gilded letters on the gate, 'Imperial South Sea Fleet, Sixth Division Base.'
The Naval Ho Inn?
Well, indeed, just as the na implies, the naval base is right across the street.
As the two entered the inn, a female attendant greeted them with a smile and asked, "Excuse , are you the knights here to participate in the knighting assessnt?"
"Yes," Rein nodded.
"Please follow , I need you to register your information with Lady Marika." The attendant said as she led the way.
The trio arrived at a room at the far end of the corridor on the first floor, the attendant knocked on the door and said, "Lady Marika, new knights have arrived."
"Co in!" A crisp female voice ca from inside the room.
To their surprise, the room was occupied by a naval female officer with a graceful figure. Upon seeing Rein and Hass enter, she stood up and formally said:
"I am Marika Morales, responsible for the knighting assessnt on behalf of the Imperial Navy. You can consult about any related matters, but first, I need to verify your information."
"A female lieutenant colonel, that's rare." Hass murmured after glancing at Marika's shoulder rank.
Rein noticed that her shoulder rank was a pair of golden leaves with a crescent moon.
"Rein Carlan, ister Shire, Flashgold Town, fifteen years old..."
Rein took off his helt, revealing a face even younger than Hass's.
"Rein... you're only fifteen? My god!" Hass's eyes widened in astonishnt.
However, Marika was even more astonished, thinking that although it was uncommon to see a knight at fifteen, the way these two seed so familiar with each other, didn't they know what each other looked like?
"Hass Klein, eighteen years old..."
The impressive naval lieutenant colonel, Marika, after registering their information, instructed:
"During the knighting assessnt period, your stay and als at the Naval Ho Inn are free, and you are also free to train at the training grounds behind the inn at any ti."
"Additionally, next door is the quartermaster's room where you can buy various weapons, armor, and first aid supplies. Of course, the prices might be a bit higher than the market, but the quality is reliable."
"Oh? Do they have knight plate armor crafted from rare ores?" Rein asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course not," Marika rolled her eyes at Rein.
"What a pity!" Rein shrugged, resignedly.
"Lieutenant Colonel Marika, about the knighting assessnt task?" Hass rubbed his hands together, inquiring about the related matters.
"I'm sorry, according to the joint directive of the Imperial Navy and the Knighthood Assessnt Commission, in order to maintain confidentiality, the specific tasks of this assessnt will be announced on the day of the task itself," Marika shook her head and replied.
"Wow, is this assessnt that significant?" Hass exclaid in surprise.
A task related to the Imperial Navy?
No wonder they were staying at the 'Naval Ho Inn' and being attended by a naval officer...
Rein listened, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully.
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