Anson has been suffering from insomnia for a month.

He had been plagued by nightmares since the end of the Battle of Boimrum, and although Anson had never set foot on the bloodiest front lines during the battle, just seeing it in the corner of the battlefield would have put him on the brink of hell, and the horrors of the sights had long been brutally etched into his memory by the invisible devil. The clashing of swords, piles of corpses, pools of blood soaking his heels, and the wails of the dying would always creep up from the edge of his dreams as Anson closed his eyes, and began to chase him endlessly. Even if Anson woke up in a cold sweat, there would still be a faint echo in his ears.

Anson always felt that it was because their current station was too quiet and empty, and those mercenaries who had managed to get acquainted with each other had died on the city walls, and Kisia was nowhere to be found, and Esher had woken up from his coma and left Poimpur with Wren, leaving only his and Salaman's two tents alone in the huge camp, and every time Anson looked over, he thought they were two lonely graves.

Salamane took over Anson's training, but only to monitor whether Anson was strictly following the training plan that Kisya had previously developed. However, Anson, who was sleep-deprived, was completely unable to withstand the intensity of the Knights' level training, and Salamane also saw that he was not in the right state, and was not reluctant, and even took it upon himself to let Anson rest for a month. This decision freed both of them at the same time, allowing Anson to take a few naps intermittently during the day, while Salamatan was able to soak in the tavern of Boimpuru for a long time. It is said that Esher had told him to inquire about Ismolola before leaving, and in the Daxia man's mind, there was no more reliable source than the tavern - or he simply wanted to experience how strong the wine in the North was. Salamane had been sitting in the tavern since the morning, and then returning in the evening drunk and falling asleep—thanks to the fact that he could always see his way, and even walk back smoothly. Anson had to move his tent to the edge of the camp to get rid of Salaman's unbridled snoring.

After no training, Anson suddenly found himself with nothing to do. In order to pass the time, he worked as a pawn in a wound medicine parlor in the lower city, but his hands trembled incessantly when he saw blood, and Anson could see in it that he had been haunted in his dreams - even more magnificently and terrifyingly reflected by the small blood-colored mirror. For this reason, Anson knocked over several medicine bowls, the most serious of which nearly delayed the treatment of a seriously injured mercenary. Anson didn't stay a few days before being kicked out.

Anson felt ashamed of himself, obviously dreaming of a knight, but he seemed to be frightened when he first went to battle, and he still hasn't eased up. What's worse is that he can't find someone to talk to, Salamane is a big boss, and Essiu is not there - in fact, Eshu doesn't dare to tell him even in Anson, although the two are a few years apart, Anson always feels that there is a very deep and wide generation gap between him and Eshy. Perhaps Kisia would have been a good person to talk to, but Anson always felt embarrassed to confide in that little contemptible, because he longed for him too much, and for Anson Kisia was infinitely close to his chivalric role model - but he was missing, and Salamane did not know his whereabouts. As mercenaries, they are not eligible to be counted in the list of the dead, so Anson has no way to find it. Maybe Essho would know, but he didn't know when he would return.

I hope I can get ahead of my own nervous breakdown. Anson removed the iron pot from the fire and watched as the boiling snow gradually calmed down, and his haggard face gradually fixed as the water swayed. His dark circles are getting heavier day by day.

Suddenly, another ripple opened, and Anson looked up alarmedly, and he heard the sound of horses' hooves, mixed with the sound of wheels slowly rolling over the ground. There's a team approaching here, and it's not small. Is Esseur back? Anson jumped up in surprise and rushed to the front of the camp, but was disappointed. He did see a large convoy, but it was not Esher who was leading the way, but Wren. He no longer wore the tattered knight's armor, but changed into a brand new armor, and his impression was much brighter. But Wren's face was very gloomy, and when he saw Anson coming, he skipped the greeting and asked bluntly: "Has Baranduke come back?" ”

Anson was stunned for a moment before he realized that "Baranduk" was Estheu's surname, and then shook his head: "Didn't he come back with you?" ”

Wren didn't answer, raised his whip with a stiff face, motioned for Anson to get out of the way, and then led the convoy into the station. The camp that had been silent for a long time finally came to life, and the pack horse spewed a thick white mist from its nostrils, and lowered its head to drink the cold snow water from the manger; The coachman pushed the wagon to the corner of the camp and began to set up his tent. A lean old man walked around the camp, shaking his head as he watched, and then shouted loudly at Wren, "Boy Wren, didn't the Count let us go to Ismorola?" How did you bring us here? ”

"Baranduke is still on his way, he is the master of the territory, and he must wait." Wren replied with a blank face.

"The knighthood is not high, but the shelf is quite big." The old man spat on the ground, "Then I'll go to the Wang Li Academy and see how many of those old guys are still alive." ”

As usual, Salamane returned to the station in the middle of the night drunk. At this time, the camp had changed considerably, and it was no longer deserted before, and Salamane thought that he was going in the wrong direction at first, until he recognized his tent, and did not enter it suspiciously, but he clashed with several coachmen who were keeping vigil, and if Wren had not happened to pass by and intervened to stop him, Salamane would have been erected and thrown into the frozen stinking ditch by the roadside. The coachmen brought by Wren were not ordinary miscellaneous servants, but well-trained regular soldiers, but they were not armoured for special reasons. However, Salamane was probably a little angry, and after a long drunken meal, he was beaten down by Wren and thrown into the tent.

Anson finally got a good night's sleep tonight and was no longer haunted by nightmares.

Three days after Rennes returned, Esher finally arrived in Poimbru. He was accompanied by twenty iron guards and ten dragon knights, but instead of returning to the camp at once, he made a detour and stopped briefly in front of the Royal Academy before returning. There were thirty more people in the already small station, and the space immediately seemed stretched.

Estheu's meeting with Wren was dramatic. Wren walked slowly to Esher with a stiff face: "Your Excellency Baranduk, Wren Ríodre Odile hereby reports to you that, according to the instructions of Viscount Ivanles, I have brought fifty craftsmen from the Finbrai Plains, and on the way to receive a grain baggage worth ten thousand dinars in Ryan City, including two hundred and fifty kilograms of wheat, six hundred kilograms of oats, and one hundred catties of frozen dried fish. A total of 10 wagons and 80 pack horses were used, and the report was completed. With that, he raised his hand slowly, his thumb rubbing his thumb across his eyebrows, and it could be seen that Wren was reluctant, even resistant, but he still completed Livingston's military salute.

"Got it." Eshu nodded calmly and returned the military salute. But Wren had already turned around and stepped aside with stiff steps.

"You are Esher Balanduk, the new lord of Ismolola? It looks quite young. The lean old man walked up to Eshu with a big grin, stretched out his hand and squeezed Eshu's shoulder lightly, "Well, I do have some ability, no wonder I can kill the Wolf of Omen." ”

"Which scholar from the Royal Academy are you?" Eshua did not avoid the old man's slightly rude behavior, he noticed that the other party had a delicate bracelet hanging on his wrist, on which were strung with several round white stone beads, the bracelet and the stone beads were very new, and it seemed that they had only been hung up for a short time.

"Introduce myself, I'm Hephaesto, a commoner, and I don't have a surname, so you don't need to use an honorific title on me, Sir. And I'm not a scholar either, but the former head craftsman of Finbrai, and now the head of the craftsman under you. The old man said lazily, "When are we going to Ismolola?" ”

"Now." Esher said.