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Sinclair roughly grabbed at the manticore’s mane as she spoke, causing the beast to shake its head as it breathed out black air, “Once this plane becomes mine, I’ll definitely find a way to go back. At that point, I’d love to see the faces of those old rascals of the family. I’ll strip a few of those old farts, hanging them up to have the orcs from here fuck them up the ass!”

The more she said, the more excited she grew. Her face turned a bewitching red. Sinclair never hid her resentment for her family, but even the two great mages were unsure as to the origin of this hatred.

Her eyes were glistening by the time she finished her last sentence. She licked her lips once done, continuing, “I heard that Richard is a handsome little rascal. When I catch him, I’d love to test him out a little. Maybe I’ll even use him a couple times.”

One of the mages cleared his throat and reminded her, “The point of Richard’s existence is to help you build a team of rune knights, Mistress.”

He had been by Sinclair’s side for some now, having seen first hand the plights of many strong men who she ‘used a couple times.’ Richard was a runemaster and mage, he definitely wouldn’t be tough enough to withstand her.

Sinclair nodded with a conflicting expression, “Then I’ll use him sparingly.”

……

Richard’s team was trailing the eastern border of the Bloodstained Lands. His expression was terse, clearly pondering over something throughout the horse ride. Smoke could be seen rising from afar, as a group of armoured troops were escorting a middle-aged noble. They were heading in his direction, looking rather alarmed.

‘This is the fourth group…’ Richard thought silently. He pointed to the incoming riders, “Stop them for questioning.”

The noble ahead had already seen Richard from a distance, being scared soulless. However, his horsemanship was rather limited and it would be impossible for their team to outrun the desert warriors he saw. The only thing he could do was to follow Richard’s command.

He quickly recovered once he saw Richard’s mage robes and his crest of nobility, quickly greeting him, “I am Asadis, the Golden Maple Viscount. You are?”

Richard smiled in response, “Richard, a frontier knight of the Sequoia Kingdom.”

“Oh, a frontier knight…” there was a hint of arrogance on Asadis’ face, but he quickly reined himself in. He scanned through Richard’s fierce army, asking politely, “Who is your lord?”

“The Direwolf Duke, Bevry.”

Asadis straightened up upon hearing that name, but his face didn’t warp to one of disgust. Unlike the first three nobles Richard had stopped, he showed no resentment towards that name.

“Ah, someone who leaves a great impression on others, with true pioneering spirit. He’s quite suitable to be the lord of a frontier knight like you.”

This was an ingenious response, but his opinion of the Direwolf Duke was obvious with his words. Of the three dukes of the Sequoia Kingdom, Bevry was the one who loved war the most. He was always fighting somewhere; he directed most of his menace towards the enemies of the kingdom, but he still engaged with opponents within on occasion. That was the reason for his famous title.

The relationship between the three dukes of the Sequoia Kingdom was peculiarly balanced. The two remaining dukes had a lot of conflicting views, but to restrict Bevry’s insatiable desire to expand they allied often and kept him in check. Thankfully, neither Bevry himself nor his generals were particularly outstanding generals. They mainly won battles through fierceness over strategy or tactics.

Many years of battle had drained a huge portion of Bevry’s fortune. The Direwolf Duke had the largest territory in the kingdom, and a lot of it was fertile, but he didn’t have nearly as much wealth as his peers.

The viscount’s shrewdness was obvious at this point. He wasn’t like the other nobles who had judged Richard for his status, only showing disdain thinking he was riding someone else’s status. This fellow had some knowledge of military affairs, and he himself was level 8. He was well aware of the might of Richard’s troops; they weren’t inferior to his own army. In fact, he could probably defeat the standing armies of most of the kingdom’s barons. Thus, he treated Richard like he would an equal.

At the same time, Richard was observing Asadis as well. He was familiar with this name, having come across it before. If he didn’t remember wrongly, this viscount’s lands were only about 200 kilometres away from his own village. A lot of the fertile land had been cultivated, and there were mountains with mysterious mines and forests that produced precious food.

The addition to the title made it evident that he was from a massive and rather renowned family. The Maple Marquess in the north of the kingdom was his father. 

Richard escorted Asadis for a part of the journey, chatting with the viscount along the way. He inquired about the details of the battle against the invaders.

Asadis provided a rather neutral and accurate account of the battle, matching with Richard’s own expectations for the bearguard knights. He didn’t exaggerate the fighting ability of the two level 14 mages either; level 14 mages from Norland with some runes could easily go head to head with level 16 mages of this plane.

Richard himself didn’t care about any mages of Faelor at a similar level. He was hovering on the edge of level 11, and at that point he would be confident in destroying a level 12 mage of Faelor in a magic duel.

Asadis also confirmed the appearance of a demonic young girl that the allied army was calling a nightmare, the cause of his sunken mood. Her bizarre way of killing, the massive manticore, and the overpowering battle strength allowed him to confirm her identity: Sinclair, of the Schumpeter Family.

Sisley and Sinclair; the reputation of the two Schumpeter girls exceeded even that of the family head. Their traits were well known, especially those of Sinclair. The girl had been participating in planar wars since she was 14, and it had already been more than ten years since then. If not for an underperformance in wars on Norland itself, she would be much more famous than Alice who had defeated Solam’s alliance.

The arrogance of Norland was showcased in many different ways. For example, internal battles were much more important to those of Norland than planar wars, unless it was with another primary plane.

Combining the previous rumours and Sinclair’s performance in this battle, Richard suspected that she was equivalent to someone at level 18. This was definitely an unwanted fight, the powerhouses on his side could barely hold her off. Sinclair could kill off anyone outside of Waterflower in the blink of an eye, taking it easy as she roamed around and took every chance to kill his subordinates. His entire party could end up killed at her hands as she nibbled away at his forces one by one.

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