Erwin and the others loaded the dozen or so unconscious mercenaries of the Four Winds mercenary legion onto a couple of carts, then wheeled them back to the campsite.

As soon as they returned, they were approached by Sherry and Lanyon, both of whom wore grim expressions.

"What happened?" Larwood asked as he cast his gaze toward the two of them.

"A lot of people came by just now, and their leader said..." Sherry hesitated momentarily as he looked at Erwin and the others, then continued, "They told us to look out, and that they're going to hunt us down once we leave Windmetal Fort."

"It's those bastards again! Are they never going to let this go?" Erwin was furious.

"Did something happen, Master Erwin?" Lanyon asked in a concerned voice.

"We went to forge some suits of Falcon Beak Lizard scale armor, but those bastards had their eyes on us ever since we arrived in Windmetal Fort, and they wanted to take our suits of armor," Erwin replied with an enraged expression. "Obviously, we weren't going to allow them to do that, so we already had a fight with them earlier."

Only now did Sherry and Lanyon understand why there were unconscious mercenaries that had been wheeled back to camp.

"Take them away and get their injuries treated as soon as possible. I can see that several of them have sustained very severe injuries. Some of them even have broken ribs, which need to be treated right away," Larwood instructed with tightly furrowed brows.

Sherry and Lanyon immediately organized some people to carefully unload the unconscious mercenaries from the carts.

"You're one to talk. Take a look at yourselves! Your faces are so swollen I can barely recognize you anymore," Erwin chuckled.

"I have some magic potions for treating external injuries. Wait here, I'll go get the potions now," Onean said, then began to make her way toward her own carriage.

"What a generous 'cousin' you have, Erwin," Kaiba said as he looked on at Onean's departing figure with a slightly slack-jawed expression.

"Indeed, what a great person he is," Chase also sighed as he cast his gaze toward Onean.

"That's not what you said when you were blaming me for taking him with us," Erwin scoffed with a disdainful expression.

"You should be saying that to Larwood! He was the one most opposed to taking your cousin with us! I don't think he deserves to use your cousin's magic potion," Kaiba countered.

"How can you guys still be joking around at a time like this?" Larwood complained. "We're being targeted by a bunch of bandits and convicts who will stoop to anything to get their way, and they outnumber us three to one!"

"They're definitely not just going to let things slide so easily," Erwin said as he put on a serious expression. "I think we need to make preparations to deal with them over the long haul."

"I agree," Larwood replied with a nod. "How about this? Once we leave Windmetal Fort tomorrow, we'll get Georgina to set off with the assassins in our mercenary legion as scouts. They all excel in speed, and if they discover any mercenaries from the Wolf Moon mercenary legion, they'll be able to report back to us. That way, we'll at least be somewhat prepared."

"I could tell that Talan was trying to kill me with his final attack," Erwin said in a cold voice, and his eyes were burning with fury. "If you ask me, if we want to deal with people like them, there are only two options: either we stay far away from them, or we..."

"Or we round them all up and kill them in one go," Larwood said with a cold smile, finishing Erwin's sentence for him.

Chase and Kaiba exchanged a glance upon hearing this, then looked back at the cold and determined looks on Larwood and Erwin's faces before nodding in agreement.

...

The suits of Falcon Beak Lizard scale armor were finally delivered to the campsite near nighttime. Looking at the shiny suits of scale armor, Erwin and his friends were extremely pleased. After all, these suits of armor had not been easy to come by. Setting aside the perilous storm that they had weathered in the Terarody Mountain Ranges, they had made an enemy out of the Wolf Moon mercenary legion as well over these suits of armor.

Of course, their contentment was also marred by a slight sense of bitterness as it had cost them over 1,000 Loonies just to have the Falcon Beak Lizard hides made into these suits of armor.

Larwood began distributing these dozens of suits of armor among the mercenaries on the campsite, and the armor was handed out according to everyone's performance during the selection process for the martial artists. Those who had excelled during those trials naturally received this privilege, while those who missed out could only lament their own ill-fortune.

Meanwhile, Erwin made his way over to Onean's carriage as he recalled that there was something he still hadn't spoken to her about.

As soon as Erwin entered the carriage, he saw Onean with her arms crossed and a furious look on her face. "I've truly seen it all now! I can't believe there are mercenary legions like this that are filled with bandits and convicts! Have those idiots from the department of military affairs been bribed to the point that they can't even think straight anymore?"

"That's why we've decided to find an opportunity in the future to kill all 1,500 mercenaries in that legion," Erwin said with a smile.

"You're not someone who can ever just swallow a bitter pill without retaliation, so it'd be a miracle if you didn't decide to go after them," Onean said with a displeased pout.

Erwin couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this.

"Also, that Larwood appears to be quite a decisive and ruthless character as well. When you two are together, you're even more terrifying than a mercenary legion of bandits and convicts!" Onean jeered.

"Technically, does this count as a public service?" Erwin mused with a self-deprecating expression.

"That sounds about right. They're not planning to let you go, and you're not planning to let them live, either, so you're both on the same page! Isn't that perfect?" Onean asked with a smile.

"That's true," Erwin replied with a nod.

"Having said that, I feel like you and Larwood are really determined to kill them. It feels to me like there are other underlying reasons motivating you other than revenge, right?" Onean asked as she gave Erwin a meaningful look.

"You really are sharper than a well-sharpened knife," Erwin said with a wry smile. "With the amount of money that we currently have on hand, we won't be able to support the costs of this mercenary legion for much longer. A band of convicts and bandits will definitely be carrying tons of money, so they're a perfect target."

"You really are no different from those bandits and convicts that you're targeting," Onean jibed with an amused expression. "If this matter gets taken to the department of military affairs, I don't think you'll be able to get away with it."

"We'll just have to make sure to kill them all so none of them can tell others what happened," Erwin said in an indifferent voice.

Onean faltered slightly upon hearing this, then said, "Aren't we severely outnumbered by the Wolf Moon mercenary legion? How are you going to make sure that you can kill all of them without anyone getting away?"

"We'll definitely be able to find an opportunity eventually," Erwin replied.

Onean nodded in response.

"By the way, there's something that I have to speak to you about." Only now did he recall that he had come to Onean's carriage with a purpose.

"The route that we're taking is different from that of the main army. Once we leave Windmetal Fort tomorrow, we're going to go east until we reach the coastline of the Joffan Sea, then follow the coastline northward from there," Erwin said as he looked at Onean.

"Why? Shouldn't you be traveling directly to the capital city of Burmen, Newen?" Onean asked with a perplexed expression.

"We're only a small mercenary legion with 500 people. If we follow the main army northward, we're not going to be able to reap any rewards. Eventually, our funds are going to run out, and we won't be able to support the costs of the mercenary legion any longer," Erwin replied with a resigned expression. "At the moment, the regular army of the Skycourt Kingdom is being kept at bay by Prince Lazaar outside Illingburn Fort, and many of the Skycourt Kingdom's mercenary legions have begun to travel south along the coastline due to the same financial reasons. Hence, we're planning to travel north along the eastern coastline to try our luck there."

"Alright, then I wish you good luck," Onean said in an indifferent voice.

"Does this mean this is where we part ways?" Erwin asked as he took a glance at her.

"You know my objective for this trip," Onean replied. "I don't have the time to be taking long-winded routes for monetary profit."

"I get that you're concerned about your father and the state of the kingdom, but you're in terrible physical condition right now!" Erwin countered in a concerned voice. "You had so much trouble dealing with those two mercenaries from the Wolf Moon mercenary legion, I'm genuinely worried that you'll be killed before you even make it to the front lines."

"Oh? Are you looking down on me?" Onean asked with a derisive sneer. "I may not be in peak condition right now, but I can still incapacitate you with a wave of my hand! Do you want to try me?"

"No, there's no need for that. Of course I know that you can take care of me easily, but..." Erwin raised his hands, seemingly in resignation and apology, but all of a sudden, he unleashed an instant-release paralysis spell directly toward Onean.

Onean was caught completely off guard by the sneak attack, and she was completely immobilized, leaving her only able to glower at Erwin with a furious look in her golden eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, Your Highness, you leave me with no choice," Erwin sighed. "Talan and his subordinates have already seen what you look like, so there's no way I can feel comfortable with allowing you to travel to the front lines alone. Also, I promised to take you to the front lines with me. If you go off on your own now and something happens to you in the future, my conscience will never be able to get over it."

Judging from the slight trembling of Onean's body, it was clear that she was trying with all her might to overcome the paralysis effect of the spell. This was only an instant-release spell, so under normal circumstances, Onean should've been able to break through it right away with her exceptional magic power.

It was clear that just as Erwin had said, she still hadn't recovered to full health, so her magic power was yet to completely recover as well. This was something that Erwin had already identified during the fight against Talan and his subordinates earlier in the day.

He gently laid Onean down onto her bed, then began to take off her clothes in a well-rehearsed manner.

The fury in Onean's eyes became even more pronounced, and she looked as if she wanted nothing more than to skin Erwin alive.

"Stop trying to resist! I just want to take a look at your wounds," Erwin said as he gave her a stern glance.

However, Onean certainly wasn't just going to let him have his way. Her cheeks quickly became heavily flushed, and it was clear that she was still trying to use her magic power to overcome her restrictions.

"Tsk, why are you so stubborn?" Erwin gave her another stern glare, then pulled out a coil of thin golden rope from his sleeve.

Onean was even more furious to see this, to the point that she was struck with a sense of surrealism. It was clear from his preparations that this had been Erwin's plan from the very beginning. She was the princess of the Effer Kingdom and the most cherished child of King Cameron. Throughout her life thus far, she had always been revered by the masses, and never had she been manhandled like this. It could be said that the first time she had ever been disgraced was when Erwin had rolled over and pressed his own body on top of hers. However, he was going even further this time by tying her up! This was such a ridiculous situation to her that she was struggling to fathom it to be reality.

However, Erwin paid no heed to what she was thinking, and he rolled her body over quickly before tying her up in an efficient manner.

Onean had never been humiliated like this before, and she was drawing upon all of the magic power in her entire body to try and struggle free. However, all of the magic power she was able to muster up was somehow absorbed by the rope, leaving her completely powerless.

"That's enough, stop struggling!" Erwin was overcome by a rather strange feeling as he said this, almost as if he were the dominant party in a BDSM relationship.

As Erwin turned Onean's body back around so that she was lying on her back, he was given a massive fright by the hollow and murderous look in her eyes. It was like the look of a lioness that was watching its prey, waiting for an opportunity to pounce.

"I already told you that I'm just going to take a look at your wounds. Why do you think of me as someone so evil? Besides, it's not like I haven't seen what's under your clothes before this," Erwin sighed with an exasperated expression, then carefully lifted up a small section of Onean's clothes to reveal her stomach. In a rare display of restraint, he didn't go any further than that.

However, Onean certainly wasn't going to be grateful for his restraint. If she could release spells from her furious golden eyes, then Erwin would've already been killed on the spot dozens of times.

"Looks like the wounds haven't opened up again," Erwin said as he heaved a faint sigh of relief while examining Onean's stomach. After that, he gently lowered her clothes back down over her stomach.

The fury in Onean's eyes abated slightly upon realizing that Erwin really was only going to inspect her wounds and do nothing else. Of course, if she were physically capable of killing Erwin at this moment, then she would've done so without any hesitation.