Work Prophet
Chapter 590 - 22: Siblings Captured

Chapter 590: Chapter 22: Siblings Captured

Lady primarily listened to Morse recount his previous battle with those savages.

According to Morse, Marquis Kuren led people into the mountain merely to retrieve those individuals from above and thus did not carry much supplies.

However, by the afternoon of the next day, they had not returned, and Morse realized they might have encountered some trouble, though at that time he was still relatively optimistic.

After all, this time Marquis Kuren had brought a formidable army of ten thousand, all elites from various families, which was strong enough to be considered powerful and well-equipped, while the opponents were just some mountain savages.

Morse speculated that they might have encountered an attack by the savages midway, and after easily winning, they likely pursued the savages straight into their lair.

When another day passed without any news from Marquis Kuren’s side, Morse finally became anxious.

Leaving a hundred men to guard the Solid Stone Castle, he took another two hundred subordinates, escorting a batch of food and supplies into the mountain to find the army.

However, they had only walked halfway when they ran into those savages, whose combat power had not changed from before, and Morse quickly repelled their first wave of attacks.

But leveraging the familiarity with the terrain and numerical advantage, the savages launched a second and third wave of attacks.

Morse’s side, struggling more and more to cope and after losing about thirty men and receiving an arrow to the arm, had no choice but to abandon some food, exit the Dragon Ridge Mountain Range, and return to Solid Stone Castle.

The savages did not follow them out, leading Morse to surmise that their manpower might also not be particularly abundant.

Moreover, considering they had to surround Marquis Kuren’s army, Morse then hoped that Ireya could immediately lead people into the mountain.

The Lady was about to agree, but just then, she heard Duren cough beside her, so she changed her question and asked, "What about Hand, where is he now?"

Morse did not understand why Ireya was so concerned about the newly arrived coachman, but still patiently said,

"I heard Lord Hels say he could understand the language of those savages, so he was asked to help interrogate those captives.

"But it turns out this fellow said his mother and the captured savages do not belong to the same tribe, and he does not understand what those people are saying."

"The languages used between savage tribes are also different?" The Lady exclaimed in surprise, "Then how did they come together this time?"

"I do not know, and now is not the time to worry about such matters," he replied.

Miss Rabbit nodded, "Regardless, he knows more about Dragon Ridge and the savages there than us; this time, I still plan to take him with us. Additionally, Sir Morse, please lend me ten more captives."

"What do you need captives for? Those savages are fundamentally unable to communicate with us, just like wild beasts, and they are fiercely wild, very unruly—be careful they don’t trouble you on the way."

Though he said this, Morse quickly had someone select ten captives to bring over.

The Lady glanced at them briefly; indeed, each of them had an untamed look, and one even spat at Miss Rabbit while being brought over, taking advantage of her being unprepared.

Fortunately, the Lady reacted quickly enough to dodge to the side in time.

Afterward, the young lady drew out the Hand of Judgment from her waist and fired a shot at the wooden fence beside that savage.

The loud roar, along with the flames bursting from the muzzle, startled the savages, especially the female savage who had spit at the Lady, who was utterly dumbstruck.

Then she touched her neck, only to find a wet patch there. When she brought her palm to her eyes, she realized it was her own blood.

Turning to look at the wooden fence beside her, she saw it had been shattered to pieces, and the flying splinters had cut through the skin on her neck.

Fortunately, the injury was not serious, and a rudimentary bandage was sufficient to pose no danger.

However, the barbarians’ gaze shifted when they looked at the Lady again, sizing her up as one would a ferocious beast, and no one dared make any further moves.

Meanwhile, Sir Morse, who was immersed in anxiety and unease, witnessed this scene and suddenly felt invigorated, he exclaimed in praise.

"Truly worthy of the Champion of the dueling contest, with Sir Ireya at the helm, I believe we can definitely rescue Marquis and the others smoothly this time!"

The Lady skillfully slid her duel pistol back into the holster at her waist and said earnestly, "I’ve got a pretty clear understanding of your situation here. Let’s rest here for half a day, and head into the mountains first thing tomorrow morning."

Soon, those ten barbarians were taken away and locked up alone in a cell.

The so-called cell was basically a fence made of sharpened wooden stakes, from which those barbarians could have easily escaped given their skills.

Therefore, the guards shackled their ankles and chained them to a thick wooden post in the center of the cell.

Apart from that, an archer was assigned to watch their movements at all times, and so far, no significant trouble had arisen.

The ten barbarians were either aware they couldn’t escape or were intimidated by the ’Hand of Judgment’ wielded by the Lady that afternoon, and remained silent and listless upon returning.

They were all in a dejected state until two of them, late into the night, began whispering to each other.

The pair were siblings from a tribe called Mist Snake, and the female was the one who had spat at the Lady earlier.

She asked her brother, Red Beard, "Did you see it?"

"See what?"

"That black iron tube, that terrifying woman stuffed both Thunder and flames into it."

"I don’t think the nobles from the Western Territories have such great capabilities. We have fought them before. They only bullied us because their gear and weapons were better, and they had more people," replied Red Beard.

"That noblewoman is different though, and she seems like the leader of that new force. What do you think her intentions are for picking us out? Is it to kill us to boost the morale of her troops?"

"I don’t know," Red Beard said, his expression a bit despondent. He prided himself on being a warrior who did not fear death, but when the moment truly approached, he found he wasn’t as brave as he had thought.

Sensing her brother’s nervousness and unease, the female barbarian hugged him, resting Red Beard’s head against her chest.

"I said we should have had our wedding before coming down the mountain, but you told me we’d discuss it later. Now, look, we can’t go back anymore.

"Tell me honestly, are you still hung up on that wench Shana? Did you two sleep together behind my back?"

"What’s the point of bringing that up now," snapped Red Beard, "We were about to win, yet we won’t live to see that day."