Lord blessed by the elves

Chapter 67 Bait
The scarred, muscular man's eyes flickered uncertainly, clearly indicating an intense internal struggle.

Kruse's words certainly hit a nerve and painted a picture of a future that was hard to refuse.

The refugees behind him began to whisper among themselves, their eyes revealing a longing for food and a stable life.

"An inside-outside collaboration? Is the information reliable?" The scarred, burly man's voice was still hoarse, but the wariness in his tone seemed to have lessened, replaced by a hint of inquiry.

“The information is definitely reliable!” Kruze deliberately lowered his voice, sounding extremely mysterious. He glanced casually at the dense forest around him, and Aidin, standing beside him, immediately understood. He pretended to run a short distance away, looked around warily, and then quickly ran back.

"Boss, I've checked the surroundings, it's spotless, no one else around!" Aiding reported loudly, panting, his acting quite convincing.

Kruze then revealed a satisfied expression, his gaze refocusing on the scarred, burly man, Kaldo, his tone carrying a resolute air of finishing his job and calling it quits: "To be honest, I only planned to pull off this one last big heist, after which I'll have to find a place to hide and lay low. The opportunity is right in front of me; if I miss it, there won't be a second chance."

The reason he came up with this elaborate plan was because he had recently obtained top-secret intelligence—Baron Hiddink's brother, Baron Sidil, would soon send a transport team to carry back a huge amount of wealth plundered from the front lines to his own territory.

His father, the Lion Knight Reyes, also had his spoils of war acquired on the front lines in this group, although Baron Sidil was required to take a quarter of them as “transport protection fees.”

Although the fee was "reasonable" within the rules for nobles, it greatly displeased Kruse.

He hadn't originally intended to intercept the team; the risk was simply too great.

But upon seeing Kaldor, the Bronze Knight, and his band of outlaws, a daring plan instantly formed in his mind—perhaps he could use their strength against them, and double-cross them!

The fact that this group of refugees could establish and maintain a refugee market on the edge of the monster-infested Hornas Mountains suggests that they possessed more than just one knight-level fighter.

Kruze didn't take ordinary vagrants and rabble seriously, but if wandering knights who had lost their fiefdoms and were unwilling to accept their fate were involved, then they would be an extremely unstable and dangerous force. He had to find out their background and even resolve or utilize them in advance.

"So?" Kruze looked at Kaldo, whose eyes were darting around, and raised his stakes. "Think about it. If we succeed, your 30% share will be enough to free all of you from this precarious existence, where you could be fed to monsters at any moment. Do you want to continue gnawing on tree bark here, or gamble on wealth and glory?"

Scarface Cardo's breathing became noticeably heavier. He looked back at his emaciated brothers, whose eyes burned with longing, and a fierce internal struggle raged within him.

Attacking a noble's transport caravan is undoubtedly a momentous event, and failure would inevitably lead to the most brutal reckoning.

"Are you... really confident?" Kaldor asked in a dry voice, his sharp eyes trying to find a flaw in Kruze's face. "Baron Sidil's transport convoy is no joke in terms of its security."

“Would I come to you if I wasn’t confident?” Kruse smiled confidently, as if everything was under control. “We have an inside man who knows their routes, shift changes, and even when they’re most vulnerable. What we need is enough manpower to launch a fatal blow at the crucial moment. And you,” he pointed to Cardo, “need a chance to change your destiny.”

Kaldor was silent for a moment, the air around him almost frozen. Finally, he gritted his teeth, a ruthless glint in his eyes: "Fine! We'll take the deal! But I want fifty percent!"

Kruze sneered inwardly, but on the surface he showed a troubled expression: "Fifty percent? Your appetite is far too great. We provide the intelligence, the plans, and take the greatest risks, and our current manpower is not enough..."

“Without me and my men, you can’t accomplish anything!” Kaldo interrupted forcefully. “Fifty percent! I’ll gather the rest of the manpower; at least three more Bronze Knights will join us.”

“Alright!” Kruze pretended to weigh things over for a long time before reluctantly nodding. “If you can really bring three more Bronze Knights, I agree to give you 50%…” He pulled out a small, heavy bag of copper coins from his pocket and tossed it over. “This is a deposit. Meet here in three days, at the same time. I will bring you everything you need.”

In the market, copper coins were the main currency, and most of the time, barter was used.

Kaldor took the money pouch, weighed it in his hand, and the stern look on his face finally relaxed a little: "Deal. Remember, no tricks, or else..."

“Don’t worry,” Kruse interrupted his threat, smiling meaningfully, “we’re in this together now. Nice to meet you, Boss Kaldo.”

After saying that, he said no more, signaling his men to retreat slowly, remaining vigilant, until they disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.

The moment he was out of sight, Kruse's smile vanished, replaced by utter calm and sharpness. He whispered to Wells, "Back at the station, we need to rethink our plans. This 'Scarface' Kaldo is more greedy and requires more caution than I anticipated. Perhaps... we should prepare a 'surprise gift' for him."

Wilstone listened with a very strange expression on his face.

Is this young master of his now addicted to robbery because he tasted the sweetness of reclaiming grain last time?

But this time the target is the transport convoy of a powerful baron, which is far too risky.

“Young Master,” Wilstone couldn’t help but lower his voice to remind him, his tone full of worry, “Attack the Baron’s convoy, this… if our identities are exposed, even if we are only slightly suspected, the consequences will be unimaginable! Baron Sidil will never let this go.”

Upon hearing this, Kruze simply smiled easily, as if he were talking about a trivial matter: "Us? Why should we participate? Whether we succeed or fail, it's all 'Scarface' Kaldor and his lawless wandering knights' doing. What does it have to do with our Lion Fang Territory?"

His real plan was quite elaborate: to use this bait to lure out as many of the most threatening wandering knights and outlaws entrenched near the Hornas Mountains as possible, so that they would confront Baron Sidil's formidable defenses head-on.

Right now, all the surrounding territories are conducting large-scale searches for ordinary refugees, but they are subconsciously ignoring these more destructive wandering knights who are mixed in with them.

(End of this chapter)