Early the next morning, Stan and Nerfi set out on their journey south, and their destination was Thun, the southernmost territory of Cumberland. Although Cumberland's territory was not very large among all the kingdoms of Wallis, it was still several days to get from Canrito in the north to Thun in the south. All eight of Cumberland's territories are named after their main cities, so Thun, like Canrito, is both a province name and a town name.

The scholar prepared good horses for the two men, and wrote letters asking all the towns and villages they passed through to give them any help and convenience they could. Not only that, in order to ensure the safety of the two, ten knights were sent to escort them all the way south. Along the way, the knight held a blue flag symbolizing Canrito, and the bright sword and shield on it made passers-by look sideways.

On the second day, the group left Canrito's territory and arrived at another nearby territory, Tarun. It was a long, narrow territory, bordering Shavanna on the east, and the city where the lord was located, also called Tarun, was also to the east, far from where Stan and the others were passing, so Stan didn't make a detour there. The Scholar had already sent several messengers to inform the other lords except Thun before he set out, so Stan didn't need to worry about Otharjo, the lord of Tarun, being unprepared for the Dark Tide.

The knights hardly slow down their advance except for the necessary rest, and their mounts have excellent endurance, and their superb riding skills and reasonable rhythm allow the horses to travel with minimal physical exertion. So they crossed Tarune that day, arriving at Fadar, a territory in the heart of Cumberland, just as night came, and prepared to spend the night in the castle there.

Fadar's geographical location is very special, it is almost in the middle of Cumberland, and it is adjacent to seven other territories, like the heart of Cumberland. Since Fadar was on the group's route, Stan took the opportunity to visit the lord there, Fren, at night, and presented him with a letter from the scholar.

Compared to the High Lord of Sigmund, Fren looked much younger, looking only forty years old. He reads the letter with a frown and returns it to Stan. "According to the letter, it won't be long before the Grimtide's Strikers reach Thun, unless the Rainforest of Cerendra can hold them back long enough for the High Lord to return. ”

"Yes, but it's probably very small, the Gloom Tide is tireless, they don't need to rest, the rainforest is just a little harder for them to walk. Stan tucked the letter into the inner pocket of his coat and touched his hand on his chest several times.

Flon paced back and forth, stopping after a moment. "Most of Fadar's soldiers have been sent to the north, and now there are less than a thousand left in the territory, and they are scattered in various towns and villages, and there are only a few hundred here, so I cannot immediately bring troops to support. ”

Stan nods in thanks to the lord. "We understand your kindness, and we already know your difficulties, not only Fadar, but all the Cumberland territories should not have much spare power to send now. ”

Furlen sighed and walked to the window, looking out at the bleak scene. "Fadar has never been so cold, and the trees have never been so yellow. He walks back to Stan. "I will send men to gather the soldiers in the territory at once, and if I can gather as many soldiers as I can, I will immediately go south to support Thun, and until then, please help Guntel to hold off the dark tide as much as possible. ”

Stan nodded solemnly. "We'll do everything we can to help Thun. ”

That night, Stan and his party stayed at Fadar's castle, which was not the same as Durham or Deville, and the not so prosperous market was depressed due to recent changes. There were also surprisingly few servants in the castle, perhaps because Fadar was not a large territory, and compared to the other seven territories, Fadar was very small, even smaller than Chavana.

This reminds Stan of his hometown, Doyle, and everything is kept simple, without any unnecessary frills. Fears for his homeland swelled in his mind, and Doyle guarded the northeast of Wallis in isolation, threatened by the permafrost plains in the north and the fallen Sarah in the east. Fortunately, the Grand Sage Manfred remained at the Watchgate, much to the knight's relief.

After a night's rest, the group continued their march south and entered Gaiman on the same day. This is a territory second only to Canrito in strength, Gaiman's lord Querero is also quite authoritative in Cumberland, there is a saying in Cumberland, North Sigmund, South Querero, but as a lord, Querero has never agreed with this statement, but it also shows that Gaiman's strength should not be underestimated.

The captain of the knights, who was escorting Stan and Nerfi, suggested that they travel overnight that night and rest when they arrived at Thun, much to Stan's confusion, and the captain explained, "Gaiman was the least active in sending troops during the northern expedition in Sigmund, sending two thousand soldiers to even the weakest Fadar, and keeping less than a thousand troops in his own territory. However, Gaiman, who had more than 5,000 soldiers, sent only 2,000 soldiers, much to Sigmund's annoyance, but not a good attack. ”

"How so? there will be political struggles in Cumberland?" Nellfi was very surprised by this, in her eyes Cumberland should be a country of common hatred, and there should be no such intriguing court fights.

The Knight Captain shrugged. "However, Querelo doesn't do anything wrong, so you don't have to worry too much, it's common sense that lords are more concerned about their territory, but in order to save unnecessary trouble, it's safer for us to pass Gaiman quickly, after all, your mission can't afford any mistakes. ”

Stan nodded silently, reluctantly to be involved in any political struggle, especially in Cumberland, whom he admired, so the group continued their journey south without objection.

The moonlight sprinkled its brilliance unreservedly on the vast expanse of the land in the dark night sky, the stars and the Milky Way twinkled overhead, and the night breeze blew coolly across everyone's faces. At this time of year, it should have been very hot in the south of Cumberland, but at this moment Nerfi couldn't help but tighten his cloak to ward off the cold wind that kept blowing.

In the early hours of the morning, the group finally arrived at a small village on the border between Gaiman and Thun, and slept there, which belonged to Thun's territory, and the captain of the knights was relieved to let everyone rest here. Everyone was exhausted from the day's ride, and although the innkeeper of the village was very curious about the group of knights from Canrito and kept asking questions, no one had the strength to answer him, and the boss walked away in frustration.

The next day, not long after the sun began to lighten, the captain of the knights set out again, leaving the innkeeper with a surprised and unwilling look on his face to watch them go away at the door of the inn. Stan even thinks that there is no third person in the entire village who knows that they were here last night, except for the innkeeper and the hostess. They arrived after almost everyone had fallen asleep and left before most of them had woken up, like a cold wind that blew through the village.

Due to the early departure, they finally arrived at the destination of the trip, Thun, in the early afternoon. The city was much smaller than Canreto, but the blue banner on the towers was no less, and Thun guarded the southern border of the kingdom as the southern gate to Cumberland. The bustling flow of people at the city gate finally gave the group some comfort after the continuous march, at least everything was still normal here, the dark tide had not yet touched here, and they were not late.

Stan and Nerfi glanced at each other, both of them smiling relaxedly, fearing that it would be too late for them to arrive at Thun and see the ruins of the city, with the impregnable walls standing in front of them.

The captain of the knights led the people to ride slowly through the city gate, led by the knight of Canrito, and the guards at the gate did not check them at all, and the group rode straight to the castle.