Lord blessed by the elves

Chapter 31 The Silver Knight
A strange atmosphere filled the dining table—a dull and tense unspoken understanding where only she was excluded.

Although Elena was young, she was very intelligent and immediately realized that something important must have happened between her two older brothers that she was unaware of.

She blinked her big eyes, and very sensibly quickened her eating pace, no longer saying a word.

As soon as dinner was over, Elena jumped off her chair and said obediently, "Big brother, second brother, I'm full. I'm going to see Qingcui... and Huangdeng!" After saying that, she ran out of the restaurant like a nimble little deer, and considerately closed the door gently.

The two brothers were suddenly left alone in the restaurant, and the air seemed to freeze.

Kruze put down his wooden cup, his gaze fixed on Rezal with an unmistakable intensity. His voice was calm yet carried an undeniable, penetrating power: "Alright, there's no one else here. Tell me, what did you find out on your trip out there?"

Rezal abruptly raised his head, a flicker of surprise in his eyes, seemingly not expecting his elder brother to have already noticed. His lips moved a few times, but he ultimately suppressed the question that welled up in his mouth, his expression grave as he pondered for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts. After a long pause, he finally spoke in a low, hoarse voice:
“I…I found a lot of unfamiliar footprints at the edge of the forest where I usually hunt, near the Black Swamp.” He stretched out his rough fingers and unconsciously traced patterns on the greasy wooden table. “Many, and a mixed bag, definitely not just one or two people. Judging from the tracks, they seem to have been circling the border of our territory for days…I suspect those bastards are targeting us and planning an attack before the summer harvest!”

After he finished speaking, his chest rose and fell slightly, and his sharp eyes looked at Kruze, awaiting his brother's decision.

However, Kruse's reaction was breathtakingly calm. He merely nodded slightly, as if he had heard not an impending invasion, but the mundane news of tomorrow's rain. He even had the leisure to scoop up a spoonful of bland pea soup, slowly bring it to his mouth, savor it as he swallowed, before confirming his brother's guess in an unperturbed tone:
"No doubt about it. Their target is absolutely our Lion Fang Territory."

"Then what are we still doing sitting here?!" Rezal sprang from his chair like a powder keg, the heavy wooden legs scraping loudly against the stone slabs. "Now that we know, we should sound the alarm immediately! Assemble all the militia! Reinforce the fences! Check the weapons! Every minute is precious right now!"

Looking at his elder brother, who remained calm and collected, he became so anxious that the veins on his forehead bulged, and his voice involuntarily rose: "Brother! The enemy might attack tomorrow!"

Faced with his brother's impatience, Kruse simply put down the wooden spoon and raised his eyes. His gaze was calm as water, yet it carried a sense of oppression that instantly silenced Rezael.

"Not in a hurry?" Rezal almost thought he had misheard, his voice filled with incredulous anxiety. "How can we not be in a hurry?!"

Kruze shook his head slightly, his voice still calm, suppressing all of Rezal's agitation: "What's the panic? We don't even know how many people they have, whether they're refugees or professional bandits, what their equipment is like, or where they might choose to attack. What's the use of just knowing that someone is coming?"

He tapped the table lightly with his fingers, making a soft, rhythmic sound that seemed to strike Rezal's nerves: "Right now, we're just throwing all our manpower and resources away like headless flies. It's pointless except for wasting precious energy and creating panic in the territory. We need to wait, to see things more clearly."

“But!” Rezal tried to argue, but Kruze stopped him with a raised hand. “No buts.” Kruze’s gaze sharpened. “Fear and impatience are the enemy’s best accomplices. Rezal, you are a knight of the territory; you need a calm mind, not reckless bravado. Sit down.”

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable authority.

Rezal opened his mouth, but looking into his elder brother's unfathomable eyes, which seemed to have already planned everything, all the words and anger in his mouth deflated instantly, like a punctured air bladder.

He took a deep breath and finally reluctantly sat back down in his chair, his fists still clenched tightly, showing his extreme inner turmoil.

My brother has a point... but can he really be as calm as my brother, knowing that the knife might be cutting his neck at any moment, and still drink pea soup so calmly?

Rezael's agitation was slightly calmed by Kruze's steady words, but his clenched fists remained tight as he pressed on, "So... big brother, what exactly should we do next? We can't just sit here and wait for them to come knocking on our door!"

Kruze leaned forward slightly, tapping his fingers on the rough wooden table, his gaze sharp: "Of course, I'm not just waiting. You, Rezal, go out hunting as usual."

Seeing the instant look of surprise and reluctance on his younger brother's face, Kruze raised a hand to stop him from speaking and continued, "But hunting is just a pretext. Your real task is to use your hunting skills to silently track down the owners of those footprints." His tone became more serious. "I need to know exactly how many of them there are, roughly in which directions they are distributed, whether they are in groups or scattered spying, and whether they have a fixed gathering point. Remember, only look, only listen, never make contact!"

Your safety is paramount. Retreat immediately if there is any risk of exposure. Ascertaining the enemy's strength is a patient hunt; it cannot be rushed. Once we have identified our target, we will always find a way to peel back their disguise and see through their true nature.

He paused, then continued his deployment: "As for me, I'll go to the blacksmith immediately. There should still be some iron in the territory's warehouse. I'll work as fast as I can to forge a decent batch of weapons—at least to make our militia's weapons sharper." He calmly analyzed the situation, "To attack a poor knightly territory like ours, the enemy can't possibly send a strong force. They'll most likely be some wandering bandits or private soldiers of nearby minor lords who are equally desperate and want to take the risk. As long as we can get intelligence in advance and prepare, relying on the castle and the palisades, we might not be without a fighting chance."

Hearing his brother's clear and well-organized plan, Rezal's panic subsided considerably, replaced by a sense of reassurance that came from having a clear objective. He nodded emphatically: "I understand, brother! Leave it to me!"

Seeing his younger brother's renewed fighting spirit but still tense expression, Kruze softened his tone and revealed a trump card he had been hiding for a long time, trying to give his brother more confidence: "Actually, you don't need to be too nervous. Don't forget, we have a Silver-rank knight in charge of Lion Fang Territory."

(End of this chapter)