Harper grimaced as he watched as his men carried corpses to the open space on this side of the camp, lined up for identification. The good news for Harper is that he didn't see Payne's body, but the bad news is that almost all of the people who followed Payne into the forest are dead, and only Payne, Judson, and Arnold are not among the bodies, and it's not clear if they're alive or dead.

The biggest possibility is that Judson escaped from the forest with Arnold with the help of a mage, and Payne pursued alone after a fierce battle, so the three of them could not find a trace.

Harper would never have imagined that last night, a demonic maharaja had visited this little forest.

Looking at the corpses on the ground, Fang Na sighed, at least more than thirty professional soldiers of the Davide family died, and Harper's most important son was not known for life and death, which was definitely a big injury to the Davide family. Although Harper gathered 6,000 people in one go in the previous war, most of these 6,000 people were conscripted farmers, and it was when Harper understood that the war would not last long, so he recruited them in his own territory and that of his retainers, in fact, the Davide family would not have more than 500 professional soldiers, and it was definitely a very distressing thing for Harper to get in more than 30 at this time, not to mention that there was a son who was even more worrying to him.

"I think we'd better report it to the Duke right away. Fonner said, although he knew that Harper's face would not look good, but after all, he was responsible to Duke Tigerman, and it was necessary to let the Duke know about the matter here, "We can divide into three ways, some people will go to find Payne and Earl Arnold, some people will continue to investigate what is going on in this forest, and some people will send some people back to report to Lord Duke." What do you think, Baron Davide?"

The corners of Harper's mouth twitched, and he could fully imagine how Tiger would look at the Davide family if he knew about this. Arnold, who was almost a turtle in an urn, actually escaped from the palm of Davide's house twice, I am afraid that the duke will begin to question the Davide family's ability to do things when he hears the news.

However, he had no reason to oppose Fonner's proposal, and there was no way to blame Fonner, after all, the other party was a person close to the duke, and he had all the obligations to the duke, and any news would be given priority to the duke.

Harper nodded mechanically, acquiescing to Funner's proposal.

So Fonta gave a few words to the soldiers around him, and asked the messenger to prepare to report to Lionheart.

After arranging the news, Fonta walked up to Harper's side again and patted the old baron on the shoulder. "Baron Davide, although it is not yet the last moment, I think you had better prepare in advance and let your second son come back first, if there is a ...... It's better to take precautions in advance. ”

Listening to Funner's words, Harper suddenly felt that all the strength in his body was drained in an instant, although Funner had already said it quite vaguely, but Harper couldn't hear what he meant - Payne this time, probably more than lucky, can't come back.

The elderly Harper suddenly stumbled, and his steps were unsteady, and the person fell, if it wasn't for Fang Na even holding on, he probably would have fallen directly to the ground.

However, even when he was helped up, Harper's eyes were very hollow, staring blankly at the sky, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

——————————————

After leaving the forest, Arnold walked east along the southern shore of Lake Elena to the Ferkenri Territory.

Originally, following the direction he was heading in the forest, after he walked out of the forest, he arrived at the territory of Mamu City, where it bordered the Holy Helm Territory. But since five years ago, the Earl of the Holy Helmet Domain, the Kyle family, surrendered to the Cold Mountain Domain and became a subsidiary of the Cold Mountain Domain, this border territory is no longer so heavily guarded. Of course, if Duke Tagman really set up checkpoints at various border passes as Payne said, and must find Arnold, then the Holy Helm should also receive orders from the Duke, even if they are reluctant, they must obediently listen to Duke Tagman, after all, they have suffered enough five years ago.

However, Arnold did not choose that path, although it stands to reason that it should be safer to take the road of Mamu City, Duke Tegman's messenger may not have arrived in Mamu City, and the Kyle family of the Holy Helm may not be so strict in searching, but it is not the path Arnold wants to take.

The Holy Helm Territory itself is a mountain basin, surrounded by impassable mountains, and only two passes are connected to the Cold Mountain Territory and the Snowren Territory respectively, if Arnold chooses to take this road, then he can only go to the Snowland Territory, and when he gets there, it is estimated that what happened in the Cold Mountain Territory has already spread throughout White Horse City.

He didn't dare to bet on how much kindness his cousin, Duke Louis, would have towards him, even if he treated others with himself and empathized, Arnold felt that if he was in the position of Duke Louis, he would definitely make good use of this chess piece sent to the door to put pressure on Leng Shanling. At that time, whether it is in terms of name or morality, the Snowman Leader will grasp the initiative of the people's hearts, and he can use this banner to plot against the Cold Mountain Leader, and he can also use it as a bargaining chip to make a profitable deal with Duke Tagman. With such interests, how could Duke Louis care about that bit of family affection? What's more, Louis's position as duke was also obtained by taking advantage of his brother's death.

It's just that Snowman Territory probably couldn't have imagined that what Tiger wanted was the rich land of Snowland and the bustling port of Whitehorse City.

In any case, Arnold will not have any plans to go to the Snowren Collar for the time being, and if he goes alone, even if he gets strength from Belier, he will only become a pawn in the hands of the Snowlen Collar, and there will be no chance at all.

Thinking of the strength that Belle had given him, Arnold couldn't help but put his hand on his chest, where there was not the slightest sound of his heart beating.

Arnold didn't know what kind of power Belle had given him, indeed, he felt that his body was no longer as weak as before, but he didn't realize how much power he had, if it weren't for the magic Beatrice that Serena sent to him, I am afraid he would not have been able to deal with those soldiers last night.

Smoke had appeared not far ahead, and it looked like it was supposed to be a village. The land near Lake Elena is relatively fertile soil in the Cold Mountain Territory, and several territories along the lake are relatively rich, unlike the counts in the north, who have to guard against the Qinghe Territory and have a headache for their own harvest.

Arnold hesitated slightly, his current appearance was clear and a person with a discerning eye knew that there was a problem at a glance, although he was not wearing armor, but the smell of blood on his body could not be covered up by washing. What's more, his clothes are too obvious, and ordinary people can afford to wear such good clothes.

He stayed in a forest a few hundred meters away from the village, and he didn't know whether he should enter the village or not, the Lengshan people inherited the relatively xenophobic character of the mountain people, and generally these villages would be quite wary of strangers for safety, especially strangers who looked abnormal like him.

Arnold himself rarely went out, not to mention such a small village, even the city of Verkenre, he had never been there, to continue walking, the map in his mind was definitely not enough, he had to find someone to ask for directions. Moreover, he didn't have any food on him, and he didn't have the hunting skills of those veterans, so even if Belel reformed his body, Arnold wasn't sure if he could support him without eating or drinking.

Although he had prepared a lot in advance and had thought about the way out before the war, when Arnold really had to face these alone, he realized that he was still just a child, and he was not as proficient in how to survive in this world as he imagined. The skills to survive are far more difficult than you think.

After much hesitation, Arnold decided that it would be better to bypass the village and find another caravan when he got closer to the city of Freken, under the pretext that he had been robbed of his belongings, and then sneak into the city.

But as he walked around the village to the south, he couldn't help but stop, turn his head, and stare at the village.

He was hungry.

Although he ate some things last night, after a night of chasing, his physical strength was depleted quickly, not to mention that he was already weak, and as soon as the hunger hit him, he couldn't help but feel weak. If he didn't replenish food in the village, he didn't know if he would faint from hunger on the way to Ferkanrui.

Between exposure and hunger, Arnold hesitated, obviously when killing Judson and Payne, he did not hesitate at all, and when facing Belier, he did not have any confusion, but now, he hesitated and confused. Because this is not the life he is familiar with, it is not the world he says is familiar, for him, everything that follows is unfamiliar, no one can lead him, only he acts on his own, once he takes half a wrong step, he may pay the price of his life.

So he had to hesitate and insist on his life until now, if he lost it because of a mistake in judgment, it would be too worthless for Arnold. No, to be precise, he would not have allowed himself to risk his life under any circumstances.

It was this hesitation that made Arnold stand in a daze for nearly ten minutes, and if it weren't for someone suddenly coming out from behind him, I'm afraid he would have stood like this for longer.

Hearing the footsteps, Arnold hurriedly turned back, he had no weapon at hand, only a few magic scrolls left by Serena hidden in his sleeve.

In the bushes behind Arnold, a hunter in leather armor suddenly appeared, and when he saw Arnold, he also looked puzzled.

After a moment's hesitation, the hunter spoke first and asked, "...... From the south?"

Arnold was stunned for a moment, and then reacted, he had just walked to the south of the village, and looked towards the village, so it was naturally easy for others to mistake him for coming from the south.

"Hmm......" Arnold replied softly, not wanting to reveal his attitude before he was unsure of the other party's attitude.

"Do you know what's going on over there at Blackstone Peak?" the hunter immediately asked.

"Blackstone Peak......" Arnold couldn't turn his head for a while, and he thought that the south side of the other party's question was referring to the city of Fokenre.

Seeing Arnold's reaction, the hunter couldn't help but look a little disappointed, and because of Arnold's age, he didn't think too much, in the hunter's opinion, Arnold was just a child, not an adult at all.

"Don't you know, what about you, how did you get here?" he said, looking at Arnold, who was clearly dressed to make people suspicious.

Arnold immediately took out the claim that he had been attacked by the robbers, but although he said it naturally, the hunter did not believe him. Of course, there are many robbers on the mountains in this area, but it is also because of such a dangerous environment that Leng Shanren will not easily trust strangers.

However, for Arnold's sake as a child, the hunter did not intend to embarrass him too much.

"You can't stay overnight, but I can give you some dry food and water, and show you the way to the avenue, along which you just have to go north to Lionheart. ”

Arnold quickly thanked him, and just as the hunter was about to go back to the village to get some food and water for Arnold, Arnold suddenly stopped him.

"Excuse me, what you just asked about Blackstone Peak...... What's going on?"

Hearing Arnold ask this, the hunter couldn't help but be stunned, and then he lowered his head with a sad look on his face.