As the days passed, the chaos of the wilderness did not stop for a moment, but intensified.

For a large tribe going south, it is like putting a 20-pound dog fat carp in a half-acre pond, and the ecological relationship of the entire fish pond will have to be reshuffled.

Until stable mutual relations are re-formed, chaos and turmoil will be the theme here.

The breeze passing by from the mountain castle also seems to have a bit of the smell of the wind.

There are more and more wandering bandits in groups of three or five, and sometimes they even gather to try to attack the mountain fort. Of course, this attempt was nothing more than an egg to a stone, which was crushed by the warriors as if they were mowing grass, but the tension of the situation had become a tacit consensus among all.

Richard dissected the stomach pouch of a robber killed in battle, and instead of the unsatisfying grass seeds and bark, it contained raw meat and a few unchewed fingers.

This discovery made everyone present feel creepy.

"Seeing their red eyes, cannibalism will cause red-eye madness, in fact, it will eventually be impossible to escape. After Richard finished speaking, he rinsed his fingertips with clean water and gave a gag order to the soldiers present.

It is better not to let the civilians know this kind of information, and the more volatile the situation, the more necessary it is for the mountain fort to maintain internal stability.

There were even vicious incidents in which herdsmen who went out to graze their cattle were looted and killed, causing a large-scale panic among the herdsmen. Compared to usual, Richard was unusually silent that day, and set off with the centaur before the sun set, and did not return until noon the next day.

They were covered in blood, their clothes soaked with sweat, and their tiredness overflowing, but each of them carried a few gnoll heads that had not closed their eyes until they died.

The heads were inserted into the spire stakes around them to warn the bandits, with the last moments of fear in their eyes until they were pecked by crows or dried.

The lords did not comment on this, but silently shrank their living quarters and began to organize sentry posts or help centaur blacksmiths forge ordnance.

They were actually very afraid, afraid that the lord would choose to withdraw to Coron temporarily, because they were all native to the wilderness, and it was impossible for them to be accepted by the Pompeii Empire even temporarily. And once left behind...... They simply don't have the courage to imagine that outcome.

In fact, the people didn't know that Richard had received a letter from the noble court a few days ago.

The weight that a falcon can carry on a long-distance flight is very limited, so the space of letters is precious, and how to convey as much information as possible within the limited space is even a subject worthy of the study of the scribe.

And the group of deflated people in the noble garden are still unreliable as always, using a full three lines to write honorifics and formats, and the content of the text is only two lines.

In general, it was a warning to the pioneer lords stationed abroad about the danger, and called on them to return to Pompeii as soon as possible.

After eating some shredded meat, the falcon soared into the sky again, and the wooden tube on his feet was empty. The mountain fort is still the mountain fort, and the daily patrol training grazing and fishing have not wavered because of this episode.

For a pioneer lord, once he retreated to Pompeii to avoid trouble, it also meant that the pioneer failed, which Richard absolutely could not accept in any case.

The benefits of the wooden building being converted into a nest are evident at this time, the exposed part of the ground is very low, and the grass is transplanted to cover it with a height of one person, and it looks like an ordinary barren mountain from a distance.

In this season of grass and trees, Richard never expected to meet Anne.

"Why are you here?" looked heroic as Anne rode a tall horse in a leather hunting suit, her hair wrapped in a linen turban, and a thin sword at her waist.

Behind her, she led a team of more than 100 mercenaries, complete in foot, horse, and bow, and the queue was neat and solemn, which could be regarded as a small army.

"Why am I here, I should ask you, Alpine Fort is my territory. Richard wondered.

"We passed by here to rest, but I didn't expect you to return to Cologne, didn't the Noble Court inform you?" Anne stopped the large army behind her, and drove her horse slowly towards Richard.

"I was informed, but I didn't want to. Richard waved his hand, "There's no need at all, just because those bandits dare to come is to give away people's heads." ”

His voice was so loud that the mercenaries couldn't help but laugh as soon as he spoke. But the warriors and lords of the mountain fort did not, and they looked at the mercenaries as if they were pitying the mentally handicapped.

"Lord Richard, you may be the last pioneer nobleman in the entire Northeast Province who is still holding on to his territory. Anne's face was originally very gloomy, and she couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth after hearing this megalomaniac's words, "I'm wondering if you're really that brave, or if it's just that the information channel is too closed." ”

After she finished speaking, she stretched out her little hand to Richard, and the lord also raised his hand to support her, and helped her to get off the horse.

"Do you know what's been going on lately?" asked Anne.

"It is said that it is because there is a large tribe of bears going south. Richard himself hesitated.

He had still inquired about this news from the mercenaries of the Voya Firm, and Anne must have known about it for a long time. But as far as Richard knew, there were at least a dozen frontier territories in the northeastern provinces, and if it was just a tribal threat, it wouldn't be enough to make them all flee like rats crossing the street.

"Probably no one knows the whole thing better than I do, and I dare say you don't know anything about the truth. Anne sighed, and even a blind person could see that her heart was heavy.

"I want to hear about it. Richard immediately climbed up the pole.

The trading houses often have a wide range of contacts, and in terms of the ability to obtain information, the average small nobleman can't catch up.

"In the past, this involved the top secret of our trading house, but now there is nothing left, and there is nothing to talk about. ”

Anne and Richard walked into the hall of the lords and sat down at the table, Richard waved for Gunther and Hurt to go out and bring the door first, and Anne had only one female swordsman to follow.

Outdated secrets are also secrets, and if one less person knows, one less person knows.

"The kind of building you're designing is really functional. Anne looked up at the log roof, "It's cool, and it's easy to hide, my scouts have all been tricked, but it could be improved in terms of appearance." ”

The last time she left, before she left, Richard had said that he would use a new building of exclusive design, named "The Nest of the Earth", which blew the sky into a daze. At that time, Anne firmly believed in the elven motto "the more you are showing, the more you are lacking", and after listening to it, she didn't take it seriously at all, and she never expected that the first person to experience the effect was herself.

"Let's get down to business. Richard impatiently lifted the teapot and filled her with a glass of water.

Elves are known to be fond of talking about architecture and art, and Anne is clearly very influenced by elven bloodlines in this regard, and the lord has long been deeply aware of it.