Knight and Wand

Chapter 151: Truce between Wolf and Flower
The body of the serpent monster with its head blown off seemed to have lost its life in an instant, and was dragged heavily to the ground by the chains, raising a cloud of dust with a loud bang.

The snake tentacles that were wreaking havoc all around stopped moving like snow under the sun and broke apart into wriggling flesh and blood, slowly dissipating along with the snake carcasses scattered on the ground.

Before everyone could get close to the corpse of the serpent monster that Mette had transformed into, the skin and muscles of its huge body, just as they had just grown, the flesh and bones were strangely entangled with each other and rapidly degenerated.

The size of the snake's corpse continued to shrink, causing the pit where it appeared to suddenly collapse because the back half of the snake's body hidden underground shrank and lost support.

When Leon and others ran to the top of the pit following the disappearing flesh and blood, the huge snake body had disappeared from everyone's sight.

The soldiers surrounding the pit could not see the monster or Mette's body.

"What about people?"

Canis frowned. He wanted to see the enemy alive or dead. He would not give up until he saw his enemy die with his own eyes.

As a spirit, he was not afraid of death, nor was he afraid that the powerful sorcerer had a backup plan. The young master of the Wolf family was the first to jump into the pit, grabbing a long sword and digging in the messy soil and rubble.

With someone taking the lead, more warriors soon jumped down to turn over the soil and dig the stones.

The knight of the Wolf family came from behind with a shovel and jumped down to help the young master.

A group of knights and soldiers transformed themselves into earthsmiths and began searching for the warlock's body.

Leon stood at the edge of the pit and did not join the crowd.

He turned his head and looked at the place where the snake head that Hilgard had just chopped off had fallen.

The monster's head, which was as huge as a truck head before, has turned into a thin snake head lying on the ground.
Leon had a gut feeling that he had been cheated.

"This is?"

One of the knights seemed to have dug something up.

He bent down and grabbed the headless snake body buried under the mud and rocks, and pulled the long snake body out from under the soil.

"That giant snake just now was transformed from this, right? But where is the wizard?"

When Canis heard the noise, he immediately walked quickly to the knight, grabbed the headless snake corpse and looked at it.

The appearance of the snake corpse was almost a smaller version of the basilisk just now, and if you looked closely, you could see the cloaca under its belly, which was unnaturally open.

Recalling the opponent's action of diving into the snake's belly when they fought in the snake's mouth before, Canis came to his senses and threw down the shovel in his hand in anger.

"This cunning wizard is a loach, and he has snake dermatitis? He is so shameless!" Canis cursed and was angry that his revenge had not yet succeeded.

The brief riot in the Bucks' camp gradually subsided.

The soldiers under General Trosa soon discovered traces of a suspected extension of a cave under the pit.

However, without the support of the huge snake body, the interior had already collapsed, making tracking impossible.

Apparently, Mette's magic tricked everyone.

The sorcerer seemed to have never expected that the summoned serpent monster could break through the siege of so many knights, so the half-human, half-snake magical monster was a cover to attract everyone's attention and cover up his escape from underground.
Outside the wilderness of Fort Wachter.

Sensing the unexpected chaos that had broken out in the Trosa camp from afar, the armies of the Wolf and Thornflower families quickly dispatched cavalry to check on their lord's safety.

Gunnar and Elifer hurried to calm their overly nervous armies to prevent accidental shootings and misunderstandings from causing unnecessary fighting between the two families at this moment.

The noble lords moved to another place and asked the soldiers to bring chairs. The knights separated the space and continued the meeting in the open air to discuss the matters that had been interrupted just now.

As expected, Hilgard was temporarily placed under house arrest by General Trosa. In order to clear himself of suspicion of being a member of a society, the master sorcerer did not resist.

What awaits him and the Warlock Society will be accountability and investigation from the royal capital.

At this moment, except for the young master of the Wolf family, Canis, most of the nobles were the mastermind behind the dispute between the Wolf and Flower families.

They were more concerned about whether Mette, who escaped unexpectedly, would spread the information about the Nightmare Forest.

However, considering that Farolis had already launched a surprise attack and occupied Glade County, the news could not be suppressed for long, and the lords understood that speed was of the essence now.

In the face of greater territorial interests, although the royal nobles of Kossos County were dissatisfied with the Thorn Flower Family's monopolistic behavior, they were not interested in wasting time and energy to hold them accountable.

Baron Gunnar is no exception. His Wolf Territory in Kossos County is close to the Nightmare Forest. The army he brought back has not been disbanded and can be dispatched at any time. The feud with the Thornflower Family is nothing compared to the opportunity to go south and seize land now.

After the brief temporary military meeting ended, the nobles dispersed. Except for the generals of the Lu family who remained with General Trosa, the other lords set off without stopping and returned to the Mamor County camp according to the plan of this military meeting to dispatch the armies that had not yet been disbanded.

Trosa sent Elifer out of the army alone and made a promise to him: "I will put in a few good words for you in the application submitted to His Majesty, and I don't want to blame you for your previous lies, but the Farolis family must ensure that they control Glade County.

This time you are the vanguard, be prepared to welcome the kingdom's army in the south. If the situation is true, the first batch of reinforcements will arrive within half a month."

"Thank you, General." Elifer pounded his chest in gratitude.

Trosa nodded and turned to look at Leon behind Baron Thornflower.

Although he didn't know how Elifer discovered the changes in the Nightmare Forest.

But with a little thought, one can understand that it must be related to the young men who crossed the cursed land.

"To be honest, Lord Elliver, I now regret giving those children to you."

"You're joking, sir." Elliver smiled with pride in his heart. Showing kindness to those three young men was truly the most profitable investment that the Thorn Flower family had made in all these years.

The old general stroked his beard and carefully looked at the young knight's figure and appearance, who was quite different from before.

If it weren't for the similarity in the other person's features and the fact that his name hadn't changed, he would have hardly recognized him.

In just over four months, the plain-looking and immature boy has grown into a tall and handsome young man.

Not only did he shed his youthfulness in such a short period of time, but he also acquired extraordinary martial arts skills.

But Trosa hesitated, as if he remembered that the child had brown hair, so why did he have jet-black hair now?

Was it because of malnutrition in the past?

anyway.

He traded three knighthood titles and three small villages for an earldom and several young and promising vassals.

This deal for the Thorn Flower family cannot be described as a good deal, it is simply pie in the sky.

Earl of the Stag was quite moved. "No wonder Earl of Stag knighted you directly. I am ashamed of my wisdom. The Serpent Slayer of Selva, I heard a little about that poem at the banquet. Killing Doson, plus today's action, young man, you have killed two evil snakes that have brought disaster to Orland."

"I am not a snake slayer. If it weren't for the knights' concerted efforts today, I would not have been able to defeat the monster. It's a pity that Mette still escaped. The evil snake is not dead yet." Leon humbly replied while touching his chest in response to the old earl's admiring eyes. "Come on, while the people of the Thorn Flower Family are not paying attention to you, hurry back with me."

Baron Gunnar looked at Elliver and others who were talking with General Trosa in the distance, and immediately wanted to take his eldest son and take him back to the Wolf family army.

It’s not that he can’t come up with the ransom of five thousand gold crowns.

But for the Wolf family, this is not a small amount of money. It just so happens that Canis is not imprisoned at the moment. If not now, when will he take his son, who has become a prisoner of war, to "escape from prison"?

However, Canis stood there, sighed, and did not move with his father.

Baron Grey Wolf turned around in surprise, looking at his eldest son who was motionless, and couldn't help asking, "Boy, were you saved by the Thorn Flower Family? Do you really want your father to pay a ransom to thank them?"

"Father, I'm afraid I can't go back with you for the time being, but you don't have to prepare the ransom for the Farolis family."

Feeling the reality of being separated from his loved ones by life and death, Canis frowned, trying to come up with a statement that would not reveal the secret or irritate his father.

"That night, I was almost killed by Met. I was seriously injured, very seriously, and 'almost' died. It was the knight named Leon who saved me with a spell, but I couldn't leave him too far before I was completely 'healed'."

"What did you say?"

Baron Gunnar's eyes widened: "Could it be that the Farolis family has used witchcraft to restrict your freedom?"

"No, father, it may seem so, but the Knight of Thorn Flower named Leon did not harm me. However, if I leave the range of his spell, the wound left by Mette may still endanger my life."

"So weird? How long will it take you to recover from your injury?"

Gunnar looked his eldest son up and down, but couldn't see any signs of injury on him. He still remembered clearly how vigorous Canis was in the battle against the wizard.

Canis was silent for a moment, and after thinking for a while, he reluctantly told the processed version of his current situation: "I have to stay with that Knight of Thorn Flower for at least three years."

This is of course nonsense, but for now, this is the only way to deal with my father until that guy named Leon fulfills his promise.
"Three years!?"

Gunnar was stunned, he thought it would only be a few months at most.

"What kind of spell is that? Don't other wizards know it? Can't I find a warlock consultant for you to come to Wofnhall to heal your injuries?" Baron Grey Wolf frowned and asked repeatedly.

"At this point, do you still dare to trust the sorcerers of the society?" Canis smiled bitterly. His current situation was all caused by them.

Baron Gunnar raised his eyebrows. That's right.

"So the Knight of Thorn Flower is really a spellcaster? I thought he just used some magic treasure. But can you trust that he won't hurt you?" Baron Gray Wolf looked towards the Thorn Flower's house.

"At least he's not a member of the society, and he did 'save' me." Unable to tell the truth, Canis could only nod.

Gunnar thought for a moment.

Three years is neither long nor short. He is still in his prime, so he is not in a hurry for his son to inherit the family business.

But he still felt uncomfortable as his eldest son was under the watchful eyes of a hostile family all day long.

The heir of the family must be controlled by Farolis like a hostage.

Doesn’t this mean that in the next few years, the Wolf family cannot take any action against the Thorn Flower?

Seeing his father's distressed expression, Canis naturally understood his father's concerns. After thinking for a while, he said, "Father, we might as well change our mindset. Right now, the Farolis family is making such a big fuss about disclosing the information about the Nightmare Forest to the generals and lords. It must not be a joke."

The young master of the Wolf family has been sleeping in the Neti card most of the time since he was summoned back to the human world. It was only during this meeting today that he learned the truth about the disappearance of the cursed land.

“Since the Thorn Flower Family has taken the lead by marching south and seizing a county, I’m afraid it will be difficult for us to suppress their rise.

They must have made sufficient preparations inside and outside the forest for the expedition. Why not put aside their grudges and cooperate with Thorn Flower for the time being? Before the kingdom's army gathers, they should march south immediately, one step ahead of others. "Canis advised his father.

"Faloris swallowed up a county in the south by himself, which is like an ant swallowing an elephant. He will definitely not be able to expand. As we expand southward, our territories will still be interdependent. Even if we don't form an alliance, just not interfering with each other will be of great benefit to our next actions."

Baron Gunnar listened to his son's advice and fell into thought: "Cooperation."

As the head of the family, Baron Grey Wolf naturally knew what his eldest son meant.

Even if the Nightmare Forest was not cursed, it would be no easy task to lead an army through the dense and rugged woodlands. The army's march and supply require a stable path.

Judging from the bold words that Elliver said at the meeting, the Thornflower family must have built ready-made roads long ago, and there are probably many camps serving as nodes in the forest.

This undoubtedly saves a lot of time.

What we lack most now is time.

But Gunnar weighed the pros and cons and shook his head, saying, "We have had a long-standing feud with the Thorn Flower Family. If we become part of the Kingdom's army and borrow the passage with General Trosa's troops, perhaps that fellow Elliver will allow us to do so.

But if we go alone to borrow his route to go south, how dare he allow our army to use his route? How can I dare to let the supply team pass through the Thorn Flower family's route?"

Not only are the two families not allies, but they are also enemies with grievances.

"Why not give it a try, father? Opportunities don't wait for anyone. Now I am also a hostage of the Thorn Flower Family. Perhaps Baron Elliver, thinking he has found your weakness, really has the courage to do so?"

Canis' eyes flickered. That Leon did not tell Baron Elliver the truth about his resurrection as a ghost.

Now, the Lord of Thorn Flowers must think that he is a hostage in the hands of his vassals.

This may be an opportunity for the two companies to cooperate.

All this is just to make the Wolf Territory expand faster than others.

Suddenly, feeling the pull of magic on his body, Canis stopped talking and looked up.

The people who were talking in the distance just now have dispersed. General Trosa has already returned to the camp, and the backs of Elifer and his group are also getting farther and farther away from the camp.

All that could be seen was Leon riding his warhorse, stopping in the field, looking from afar, as if waiting for Canis to catch up.

If it was farther away, beyond the range that the other party could currently maintain, Canis knew that he would have to turn back into a card.

"Father, please think about it. I'm leaving first." The young master of the Lang family said goodbye to his father reluctantly.

Gunnar looked up and saw his son's serious expression, which made him realize more clearly that his eldest son would have to stay in a hostile family for a long time.

"So soon? Then I'll send you some servants. By the way, where do you live now? How about I send Tayana over there as well so I can take care of you." Baron Grey Wolf suggested.

"There's no need for servants, and Tayana doesn't need to come either. Just let her take care of little Logan at home. I'm in Thorn Flower, and they don't treat me badly." Canis shook his head quickly.

What a joke. He usually sleeps in that magic card. Now that his wife is here, is he going to let her get along with the men of the Thorn Flower family every day?

(End of this chapter)