Chapter 159 — The Sortie

Mercenaries were nothing rare in this world. In fact, the history of the trade could be traced all the way back to the dark age of the Gondor Empire. No matter how dynasties rose and fell, no matter how civilizations flourished and decayed, it seemed people always needed such a band of armed men drifting through the gray zones to fill the gaps in the workings of society. They were the "blood gloves" of nobles, the "coin soldiers" of merchants, and when employers were scarce, they became outlaws of the wilds.

Mercenary work was legal, with formal guilds and even a crude registration system, yet almost every mercenary had done illegal things. But so what? In this savage, backward world, "law" itself was hardly something shining and just...

According to the reports sent back by scouts, roughly twenty well-equipped mercenaries had set their sights on a refugee settlement of over a hundred people, and at least three low-ranked knights and one or two mages were among them holding the line. The rest, even without class levels, were likely stronger than ordinary soldiers. A mercenary band with its elites packed together like this was truly rare in the trade, and it stirred great curiosity and suspicion in Gao Yang. To wipe out these rule-breaking mercenaries, Gao Yang quickly ordered Sir Philip to organize a force of thirty and prepared to lead the "expedition" himself.

No matter where those mercenaries had come from, they were threatening the refugees on this land—which meant threatening the future population supply of the Cecil Domain. Gao Yang would not allow such a thing to continue. Those were all labor!

And a legendary knight leading thirty fully armed Cecil combat soldiers against twenty mercenaries seemed a bit excessive, but Gao Yang had his own reasons:

All thirty fully armed Cecil combat soldiers were the new generation of "magic-guide infantry," freshly re-equipped. Amid the rumbling machines of the manufactory, the first standard-issue magic-guide armaments had rolled off the production line. The thirty soldiers were equipped with brand-new thermal ray guns and magic-energy combat packs, and had undergone basic marksmanship and coordination training. This was a rather green unit—even though half its members were veterans, they were still inexperienced with the new weapons. But Gao Yang believed these new warriors, who could fire off a high-energy beam with a mere flick, would absolutely be more combat-effective than traditional soldiers, so he wanted to drag these men into real combat for testing.

The thirty "magic-guide infantry" assembled on the south bank of the Whitewater River. Behind them stood the recently completed temporary bridge built to connect the two banks. Drawn by the news, the domain's residents—including the serfs and slave laborers who had newly entered the domain and had not yet gained the status of free citizens—gathered nearby, watching with curiosity this army that looked so unlike anything they remembered.

The soldiers wore neat enchanted light armor imbued with basic enhancement magic. On each soldier's left arm was a strangely shaped steel bracer, and on his back a new-generation rigid combat pack that replaced the traditional marching satchel. Enchanted longswords and backup swords were fixed with iron clasps at their waists and along the sides of their packs, giving them an imposing, formidable look.

Gao Yang had drilled these soldiers for a long time with strict discipline and a system of rewards and punishments, and the men themselves knew that serving among the first "magic-guide infantry" was a special honor. So now they all stood ramrod straight; even though a crowd of commoners was pointing and gesturing at them from afar with envious and awed gazes, not one of them turned his head.

Sir Philip stepped forward. "My lord, the soldiers and the supply convoy are assembled. We can depart at any time."

Gao Yang nodded and glanced at Amber beside him. This time, apart from Amber and Philip, he had brought no one else. He trusted that with thirty magic-guide infantry and himself holding the line, a mere twenty-odd mercenaries could not stir up much of a storm. "Then let us—"

Before he could finish, he suddenly noticed a stir spreading among the commoners in the distance. A loud voice came from the crowd: "Make way, make way... Holy Light grant me a gap... Holy Light, you're stepping on my foot... Excuse me, thank you, for the Holy Light's sake..."

Gao Yang stared blankly as the crowd parted down the middle, and then a Schwarzenegger-built preacher by the name of Light came charging at a dead run toward them.

He wore that worn-out Holy Light priest's robe, which was a little tight on him and clung to his body, the lines of his muscles almost bulging out from beneath the robe—he looked like a man about to go find some heretics and take them with him.

"Holy Light! I've come—" Light ran up to the front of the troops and raised his head to look at Gao Yang on horseback, but he had barely spoken a few words before freezing. "It's you? Aren't you... the one in charge at the construction site?"

Because Gao Yang had not given permission, no one had told this preacher all these days that the lord of this land was the big fellow who had sat chatting with him on a pile of bricks that day...

Gao Yang had not expected to meet the man again under these circumstances either, and there was no hiding his identity now, so he smiled and nodded. "I didn't lie to you back then. I really am the lord in charge of this land—in charge, isn't that so?"

"Holy Light! You're the lord of this land?! The Gao Yang Cecil who, as the legend goes, was so enraged by his unworthy descendants that he jumped out of his coffin?!" Light exclaimed, tracing the symbol of the Holy Light God over his chest. "I thought you were the head foreman!"

Gao Yang: "..."

Beside him, Sir Philip whipped his sword from its sheath with a shing. "Preacher! Mind your words! Or—"

"Ahem," Gao Yang quickly blocked Philip's impending demand for a duel. "Calm down. This... is actually one of the rumor versions I had Byron spread back in the day..."

Amber rolled her eyes. "Serves you right. Who knows how many more folk versions will keep fermenting from here."

Philip and Gao Yang: "..."

After a moment of awkwardness, Gao Yang had to divert everyone's attention. He looked at Light. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you my true identity when we first met. I only wanted to talk with you as an ordinary man, so as to understand the clergy of this era."

"Understandable. A prudent and wise move," Light said with an easy smile. "Then it seems I needn't keep worrying about whether my documents were actually delivered to the lord's hands."

Gao Yang twitched the corner of his mouth and looked at the preacher with curiosity. "What do you want with me? You should be able to see that we're about to march."

"That's exactly why I've come," Light said at once, straightening his back. "I wish to set out with you."

This took Gao Yang greatly by surprise. "Why? You're not one of my soldiers, nor a lord's advisor or anything of the sort. Why would you come with us?"

"How can an army set out without a chaplain?" Light said, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. "And as the only cleric of the Netherlight Church here at present, I have a duty to use my strength to help every person on this land—especially when justice is being carried out. I heard you're going to rescue a group of refugees starving in the wilderness. A thing like that—I cannot stay away."

Gao Yang's brow twitched involuntarily. Every word the man said conformed to the teachings and to people's moral sensibilities, but in this era, how many Netherlight Church clerics still took those teachings seriously? This fellow... no wonder the church in the central diocese had driven him out.

Even just imagining it, Gao Yang could guess how unwelcome this man—whose whole style was off—must be in the church.