Armored Cavalry, survive in a world full of mods

"Your Excellency Aria (a respectful title for a female lord), would you like to keep this beast? If so, we can take it back now."

On the restless, leaping red Assele thoroughbred, Alva, her hair tied back with gold thread, gently soothed her mount, shaking her head with a smile:

"How can the army afford to feed this beast? We have to work hard to collect and transport even human food. We should just skin it; that's all we need."

The young nobleman from Asel, riding a magnificent warhorse, also smiled and nodded. Then, with a rather eager air, he dismounted, drew a curved dagger from his waist, and was actually preparing to kill the beast with his own hands... Perhaps to show his bravery, he didn't even wait for the still dangerous leopard to be exhausted and powerless to resist.

This certainly tests courage and skill—you know, the leopard's two claws are still sticking out, equally sharp, capable of tearing through flesh and causing deep wounds that expose bone; one wrong move and you could get injured.

But the young nobleman, determined to make a good impression on this lady, made up his mind and refused his captain of the guard's offer to do it for him. Under the watchful eyes of others, he gripped his dagger and slowly approached.

No matter how complicated his thoughts were, at least at this moment the young man did show considerable courage, and driven by some emotion, his movements became increasingly urgent. He simply adjusted a spot that his claws seemed unable to reach and quickened his pace to approach—this recklessness quickly cost him dearly.

Just as his dagger was about to reach his prey's heart, the ferocious and cunning beast suddenly slammed its powerful waist into the ground. In an instant, it adjusted the direction of its claws and viciously tore at his face. Amid the young man's scream, the sharp claws grazed along the edge of his face, leaving several bloody marks before falling to the ground. Then, unwilling to give up, it tried to raise its claws again to tear at his face.

"jump!!"

The sound of the bowstring vibrating was particularly loud at that moment, and the flying arrow pierced the leopard's eye socket with unerring accuracy, causing its paw to go limp instantly.

"Hmph... Tsk..."

The noblewoman's disdainful sneer was incredibly grating at that moment, making the young man feel utterly ashamed, wishing he could disappear into the den from which the leopard had just emerged...

309 The Hunting Ground (2)

Objects made of pure gold are often too soft and cannot withstand wear and pressure. Only highly skilled craftsmen know how to add other metals to increase the hardness of the object while maintaining its bright color, thus creating more durable gold products.

On this slender thumb is a very ornate thumb ring, not only cast from clear and bright gold, but also inlaid with red and green gemstones. The edges are carved with fine patterns, and some of the patterns are inlaid with extremely finely cut shell fragments, shimmering with a wonderful color that changes like the starry sky.

Such ornate objects are generally used as decorations to display the owner's wealth and status. Excessive decorations can easily cause obstacles in actual use and are also easily bumped, damaged, or broken... But on this slender finger, it can actually draw a strong bow, release an arrow, and accurately hit a leopard's swaying eye socket in the blink of an eye from more than 10 meters away.

The rescued young man showed no sign of relief, even though that claw attack had been enough to tear half his face apart and gouge out his eyes. He was filled with extreme shame and anger; his light brown skin flushed crimson, and he almost buried his head in his chest. He stood up, ignoring the leopard and not even bothering to pick up his dagger, hastily mounting his horse.

“Your Excellency Aria, I have suddenly remembered that I have not yet completed my duties. Please allow me to take my leave.”

He didn't even wait for Alva's reply, turning around and urging his horse to leave quickly along the path through the jungle, disappearing into the distance with his entourage in a disheveled manner.

"Walk slowly."

Just as the other person was about to disappear from sight, Alva slowly called out in a nonchalant manner, naturally receiving no response.

“Miss, perhaps you shouldn’t be so cold to him. The Abatheris family has always been a strong supporter of ours.”

Only when Alva and his entourage were left in the forest did a middle-aged man with a capable-looking face reluctantly spur his horse forward, approach Alva, and speak.

The beautiful woman, however, merely showed an impatient expression, put her bow into her quiver with her left hand, dismounted, and walked to their prey.

"So, what should I do with him? Play along with him? Or join his 20 wives? Marry that good-for-nothing who can't even draw a bow? I don't know what he's doing in this army. Even a hunting dog that can track its prey is more useful than him! His only purpose here is to steal credit from others, gild himself with a ridiculous veneer, and then call himself a general..."

At this point, she chuckled again:

"Ha! A general who has only ever killed slaves, he doesn't even dare to give them weapons, he only dares to unleash his power when his hands are bound."

The attendant's expression grew even more helpless:

"Then at least be polite on the surface... We need to build a good relationship with that guy's family. Even if he himself is completely useless, his family's support is real and will be of great benefit to us."

"That's why I maintain a superficial peace with that good-for-nothing. Otherwise, his lustful eyes would have been enough for me to find a way to kill him... For example, what if I ran into an Imperial patrol cavalry? Anyway, that guy insisted on coming this way, and his head could be used to do a great service to the Imperials."

"Miss……"

The attendant, with an expression of nonchalance, still spoke up, signaling his mistress to tone it down a bit.

"Or when he was about to have half his face torn off, I deliberately slowed down a step, so that at least here he was beyond saving... It was because of this point you mentioned that I saved him."

The arrow was pulled out of the eye socket, and the sharp barbs brought out the bloody, mangled eyeball. The nerves at the ends were stretched long, and bloody bits of flesh flowed down the eye socket and into the tear trough below the eye socket.

With the help of his two attendants, Alva pulled his prey out of the net, then picked up the dagger lying on the ground and began to skin it, peeling the thick, dark, and brightly colored fur from the bloody flesh.

The attendant remained silent, and the others dared not speak. Alva remained silent, displaying remarkable skill in processing the prey. In no time, he had completely skinned off a clean pelt without a single piece of flesh, which would be ready to use after only a little tanning.

“Miss, it’s still too dangerous here. We’ve gone too far north today. Imperial cavalry might appear. Let’s turn back as soon as possible. If we delay any longer, the master will definitely blame us.”

As Alva wiped the sticky blood from his hands, his attendant once again spoke to his mistress, who did not object, but simply nodded, tossed the fur onto her saddle, and mounted her horse.

"Then let's go back. Don't forget to bring the meat; we can feed it to the dog when we get back."

........................

"incite!!!"

A whistling arrow pierced through the grass, startling several rabbits and a deer munching on tender leaves. These agile creatures darted swiftly through the jungle, fleeing into the distance with such speed that they were almost impossible to see clearly.

"Whoosh!"

The arrow flew accurately through the deer's side chest and exited from the other side, spraying blood in the air. The deer seemed oblivious, its fur trembling as it continued running forward until, after a dozen or so steps, it suddenly collapsed to the ground as if exhausted.

Even the rabbits, faster than deer, couldn't escape; one after another, they were shot down by light arrows. The sound of the arrows piercing the air was like the laughter of death, with one creature dying with each passing arrow.

When only a few remained, Tersolius finally put down his bow, ending the swift and decisive slaughter, and released the remaining prey to reproduce.

Naturally, his guards stepped forward to retrieve the arrows and game for him. Meanwhile, Talina, who had been aiming the crossbow for quite some time, finally sighed and put it down.

"Do you find it too difficult?"

Talina nodded:

"...It was really difficult. They were all running too fast. I was always worried that I would miss. In my hesitation, I didn't even release the arrow."

"This is normal."

Tersolius smiled and shook his head:

“Every novice using long-range weapons goes through a phase where they are confused and hesitant about when to fire. By the time they realize it, the opportunity has already slipped away... This is something everyone encounters, and you can overcome it by being bolder and trying a few more times.”

"Once you have enough experience, you will have confidence in releasing the arrow and will no longer hesitate. You will even be able to tell whether you hit the target or not the instant you shoot... But rabbits are indeed too difficult."

He placed the bow into the bow case with his left hand, then squinted slightly and gazed into the distance:

"We still have time today, let's look around some more. Maybe we can find some big ones. They're slower and more sluggish, which should be perfect..."

"But for now, let's eat first."

Tarina smiled and nodded in response, while the aroma of sizzling meat wafted up behind them.

........................

Large, thick slices of meat tend to retain more juices and won't become dry or tough, but they are also harder to cook through and require some skill to prepare.

Deer meat is thin and dry, but very fragrant. Wild boar meat is rich in fat, but has an undeniable gamey smell. The two are cooked together, with plenty of wild scallions to remove the gamey smell, and some onions that were brought along and chopped into small pieces. This is their main meal for lunch today, served with slightly hard bread that has been toasted until soft.

Of course, these were a bit too dry, so the large amount of onions and carrots they brought with them could be used to make another soup, with the rabbit they had just cooked, enough to satisfy everyone's taste buds.

The guards took turns eating, and under no circumstances did they let their guard down, ensuring that no uninvited guests could appear around them. As for the generals and commanders, they had much more leisure time and could eat at their own pace.

The weather was still cold, and even sitting around the fire, they could feel the cold wind blowing on their other side. So they didn't have the leisure to stay there any longer. After eating and tidying up, they continued westward, hoping to hunt more prey in the next half day.

..............................

"How interesting, it seems someone has been here before..."

Thesolius looked with great interest at what he saw before him—a mess of bloodstains and footprints, interspersed with hoofprints characteristic of Aselema.

Colin rummaged through the bloodstain for a moment, then picked up a few pale yellow hairs from the ground. He examined them against the sunlight, sniffed them gently, and then nodded firmly.

“A leopard was killed here… It looks like the leopards in the south have lighter fur; I almost didn’t recognize it.”

The girl lowered her head again for a closer look, and then confirmed her next judgment:

"They caught the leopard with a net. The first animal must have driven it into the bushes, then covered it with a net and dragged it out. Judging from the size of the net and the signs of struggle on the ground, it should be a male."

"Can you confirm which direction they went?"

Tersolius narrowed his eyes slightly, something dangerous was brewing in them, like a thunderstorm rolling through the clouds—he was still in a hunting state, only now, a more valuable prey had appeared before him.

Colin's lips curled slightly upwards, his pearly white teeth gleaming like shattered ice, revealing a similarly eager expression:

"From here, we can only tell that they went east. They've probably been gone for a while, so it'll be very difficult to catch up with them."

Are there any scout teams patrolling nearby?

Tesolis turned to look at Tarina.

"The Second Battalion, the 700th Team, is patrolling this area today."

Talina didn't even bother to look it up; she simply gave an affirmative answer.

"Signal them to search the southern and eastern areas according to Tactical Number Three. Once they are found, immediately use the horn to make contact... Let us try to capture them..."

The surrounding crowd readily accepted the order, and the previously leisurely atmosphere suddenly changed.

----------

"If we go any faster, we might run into trouble."

The older servant's expression changed—he was an experienced warrior, so he quickly noticed something amiss and, without hesitation, ordered the other attendants to speed up and escort their master southward.

"What's wrong? Did you find something, Achisa?"

Alva looked at his servant with some confusion, while silently increasing the speed of his warhorse. The group moved quickly along a side road, splashing up large piles of mud on the wet dirt road.

“I suspect the Imperials may have already noticed us… The scattering of certain birds and beasts is unusual… It could be an illusion, but we are not in a position to take the risk, Miss. We cannot delay any longer; this corpse will slow us down.”

"Then throw it away. I can't worry about feeding my dogs right now."

The dark-skinned beauty had a serious expression. At her command, her attendants quickly threw the leopard off its horse, causing the bloody flesh to immediately get covered in mud and roll to the side of the road.

Without any doubt or hesitation, upon hearing the judgment of the servant who had grown up with her since childhood, she immediately chose to believe him, making the most correct judgment at this critical moment.

...And the facts soon proved that her judgment was not only correct, but also timely.

Just as they broke through the dense southern forests, their warhorses drenched in sweat, and could see the city they had started from in the distance, dust billowed across the plains, and the Imperial representatives sounded their horns to signal their target. Red cloaks fluttered in the sun, and the crimson eagle banner came into view first.

"Hurry! Don't delay! They're Imperial light cavalry. If they hold us off, we're doomed!"

Achisa didn't even turn his head, nor did he stop the others from looking back. He focused solely on urging his warhorses to escort their master toward the distant city. During this journey, he took out his bow from the saddlebag, nocked a whistling arrow, and fired it with all his might toward the city, signaling to the city's garrison.

Fortunately, before the Imperials' encirclement could completely block their escape route, they sped up and broke free, leaving the Imperials far behind. At this moment, their lives were no longer in danger. Although it seemed urgent, it was not fatal. All they had to do was wait for the city's garrison to come to their aid, and they could rest easy.

Amidst the swirling mud, ash, and grass clippings, a seemingly perilous hunt is unfolding...

310 The Hunting Ground (3)

"...Interesting, their leader is a woman...As far as I know, there shouldn't be many female lords in the Asel army."

On the distant plains, the Empire's light cavalry were in full pursuit of their prey. Like a pack of wolves, they converged from all directions, forming a dangerous red wave that surged toward the dust-covered column and was gradually closing the distance.

"According to the intelligence gathered by the hounds, the only female lord in Arthur's army is Alva, the daughter of Commander Samir, which matches the current situation very well, with at least an 80% probability."

Tarina was also observing the distance with a brass telescope, and the two of them would occasionally adjust the length of the telescope as they watched the procession desperately approaching the city.

"Looks like we've caught a big fish, Doctor... I just don't know if this fish will tear our net, but we should at least give it a heads-up."

Reaching out to put his binoculars into the saddlebag, Thesolius patted his magnificent warhorse beneath him. Moss, still snorting, eagerly pawed at the ground, its strong body covered in winter fur yearning to gallop freely.

"Wait here for me, doctor. I'm going to try and pull this fish out of the river myself."

Having said that, he took the spear from Arka, tossed off the leather sheath from the spearhead, and put the winged helmet on his head.

"The two squads left behind should protect the doctor. Once reinforcements from the Asel arrive, leave immediately and do not linger here... Send orders to the main army in the rear, instructing all units to prepare for battle... Although the possibility is small, we must take precautions."

"correct……"

Finally, the winged helmet suddenly turned to look at Talina:

"Doctor, are you sure these carrots will have the desired effect? ​​Isn't the dosage too small? Passatrian horses are generally much larger than ordinary warhorses."

"No problem, sir."

Talina nodded affirmatively:

"These carrots are specially treated, with just the right amount to boost the speed to the maximum without harming the warhorse, and the horses love them... just be careful not to let them eat more than five a day, otherwise even a Passatlia horse will have problems."

"Okay, I understand... Be careful."

As soon as the words were spoken, the iron cavalry surged out, their magnificent, unarmored warhorses galloping like the wind from the forest on one side of the city! Like a vicious dagger aimed at the waist, they instantly threw the fleeing group into chaos!

........................

"Hurry up! Move faster! Forget about your horses, we have to escape now!"

The overwhelming power of the iron cavalry was impossible to conceal. The terrifying oppressive force, like thunder, seemed to crush everything, making them tremble with fear. They could hardly allow their warhorses to have any composure, and they lashed out with their whips, leaving afterimages and drawing blood from the warhorses' fur.

No one wanted to face those terrifying cavalry, especially when they discovered that the enemy was incredibly fast, even slightly faster than their own unarmored warhorses. A sense of panic began to spread among them, causing many of them to tremble.