Chapter 305: Warrior Leader of the 305 Kingdom
"Rumble, rumble..."
As the rolling dust storm approached, the chaotic sound of horse hooves began to enter Kain Village, making the many villagers hiding inside their homes start to feel nervous.
A few braver individuals looked out of their windows and saw a group of cavalry entering the middle of Kain Village.
They were a group of riders who looked very different from knights.
They didn’t wear standard armor or carry uniform weapons, instead, they freely mixed and matched different equipment, some wearing protective gear, others only a suit of chainmail, giving a sense of disarray.
Their weapons were also different, some carried swords of the same design, others were equipped with bows and arrows, handguns, spiked maces, and other auxiliary weapons, and there were even some without any weapon, their hands empty but wearing iron gauntlets and gloves, proof that they too possessed martial prowess.
Such a group did not give the first impression of well-trained cavalry but rather a band of mercenaries roaming the lands.
However, the horses they rode were military horses, each one looking noble and spirited, which indicated that they were not ordinary, unstable mercenaries.
The cavalry, riding military horses, slowed down just before entering Kain Village, and by the time they arrived, the rolling dust in their wake had vanished without a trace.
As for their numbers, they were around twenty or thirty people, which could be considered a fairly elite force.
"Who... who are you?"
The village chief mustered up his courage and confronted the group of riders, posing his question.
The cavalry looked at the chief, then at the blood-stained surroundings, and then, without a word, focused their gaze on one person in the group.
That man happened to ride out from the group on his horse, coming before the village chief.
He was a particularly striking man.
The man was well-built, wearing a cuirass and carrying a heavy greatsword, clearly a battle-hardened warrior.
He was probably over 30 years old, his skin slightly dark as if often exposed to the sun, his short black hair was neat, and his eyes and features both carried a resolute look, enough to deter the cowardly from even making eye contact.
This man was obviously the leader of the group of cavalry and he immediately introduced himself.
"I am Gejiev Storunov, a Warrior Chief of the Re·Yestijie Kingdom."
At these words, not only the village chief, but also those few strong men accompanying him showed surprised expressions.
However, in their surprise, the first person they turned to was not Gejiev but rather to Reiger at his side.
"Hmm?"
Gejiev was somewhat puzzled by the reaction of the village chief and his men and slightly furrowed his brow, but he continued speaking.
"By order of the King, I am leading my men to patrol the villages around Ye·Lantir against the imperial knights causing trouble nearby."
"You must be the leading officials of this village, correct?"
"Which one of you is the village chief?"
Gejiev’s questions caused the village chief to respond with a hint of nervousness.
"I... I am the village chief of Kain Village, I have seen the Warrior Chief, sir."
With that, the village chief, along with the few strong men from the village, bowed to Gejiev.
Looking at the chief’s attitude, it seemed that they were bowing not merely because the man was a person of high privilege, but because the man before them had the qualifications to command such respect.
And that was quite understandable.
Gejiev Storunov was a very famous figure in both the Re·Yestijie Kingdom and the neighboring countries.
He was not a noble but of common birth, yet he had won the victory in the grand competition before the King, thereby being accepted by the King and becoming one of his subjects, leading the kingdom’s most elite forces as a Warrior Chief.
People called him the kingdom’s strongest warrior, considering him to be a presence that had stepped into the Heroic Domain.
The King trusted him greatly and therefore allowed him to wear one of the Kingdom’s Four Great Treasures, and thus his title of "strongest warrior" gradually spread from the kingdom to the neighboring empire and theocracy.
When he was fully armed, he might not be the strongest existence among humans, but within the Re·Yestijie Kingdom, he was indeed the strongest, an idol in the hearts of all warriors and also one with significant fame among the commoners.
Thus, even in a remote frontier village like Kain Village, the name of Kingdom Warrior Chief Gejiev Storunov was well known.
The village chief, knowing the man before him was the kingdom’s strongest, held in admiration by countless people, naturally did not dare to be disrespectful.
And the Warrior Chief, without putting on airs, dismounted from his horse when the village chief bowed.
"Boom!"
At once, all the cavalry, as if following the lead of their chief, dismounted in unison, causing a significant but not overwhelming rumbling sound on the ground.
"May I ask you some questions? Village Chief!"
Gejiev looked at the village chief with a serious face.
It couldn’t be helped.
"On our way here, many villages have been bloodbathed by imperial knights, almost completely destroyed."
Gejiev’s gaze swept around before settling back on the village chief.
"Judging by the looks of things here, there must have been an unusual struggle. Although I am greatly relieved that you are all unharmed, what exactly happened here? Could you please explain it to me?"
Gejiev indeed felt indescribably happy that Kain Village still survived.
Throughout his journey, he didn’t know how many villages had been mercilessly bloodbathed, which caused Gejiev great heartache and sorrow, and he also felt immense anger towards those responsible for these heinous acts.
Before coming here, Gejiev had even mentally prepared for Kain Village to also have been decimated.
Who would have thought that Kain Village had survived, which was indeed a stroke of luck amid misfortune.
However, seeing the bloodstains everywhere in Kain Village, it was clear that a fierce struggle had taken place here.
Gejiev had to investigate what exactly had happened.
He was on a mission from the King to investigate the turmoil caused by the Empire’s knights.
If this turned out to be true, he would certainly seize the opportunity to annihilate them and bring peace to the villages near Yelan Tiel.
Although this dispatch was riddled with many doubts that make one think twice, to understand these things, one must first know what exactly happened here.
As for the few previous villages, almost all were annihilated, and the handful of survivors had been transported to Yelan Tiel, leaving Gejiev without any useful clues.
Now, with Kain Village surviving, Gejiev felt that he had finally found a breakthrough in the case.
"The thing is..."
After hesitating for a moment, the village chief ultimately chose to tell Gejiev the entire incident.
"People from the Slian Cult masquerading as Empire knights?"
After listening to the village chief’s explanation, a sharp light flashed in Gejiev’s eyes.
The warriors following Gejiev showed anger on their faces one after another.
"So it was the Slian Cult that did this deed?"
"Indeed, the rotten nobles of the kingdom were also involved, even collaborating with the Slian Cult..."
"I had said, if the Empire knights were causing chaos near Yelan Tiel, why wouldn’t the kingdom send people from the nearby fortress city to deal with it? Instead, they had the Commander of the Warriors remove the Four Great Treasures and lead a limited force to travel miles for investigation."
"It must have been those filthy nobles who proposed such counsel, and even the excuses used were ones that wouldn’t deceive a child."
The warriors each expressed their extreme indignation.
Undoubtedly, they all sensed something fishy about the matter, and it mostly related to some nobles within the kingdom who looked upon them with disfavor.
The strongest Commander of the Warriors of the kingdom, who also enjoyed the King’s trust, was a position sure to attract the envy of some nobles.
However, they hadn’t expected those nobles would collude with the enemy nation to conspire against Gejiev.
This was intolerable.
"Enough, stop talking," Gejiev, on the contrary, was quite calm as he reprimanded his subordinates. "We’re not alone here; don’t speak carelessly."
On hearing this, the warriors closed their mouths, but their faces still showed their discontent.
Only then did Gejiev shift his gaze from the village chief to a young man who had been observing him since the beginning yet, for some reason, didn’t seem very noticeable, making it easy to overlook his presence.
It was only when he looked at the young man that Gejiev realized that something was not quite right with him.
Lacking presence was one thing, but having not even a hint of a breath perceivable was quite another; he was virtually as transparent as glass. Had the person not been standing right in front of him, Gejiev might not have noticed he was there at all.
The young man’s attire was also different from the average villager. While not opulent, it was very clean and proper.
With a knife hanging at his waist and a green gemstone pendant around his neck, this young man should have attracted attention immediately, but strangely, he felt as invisible as air, which was indeed quite eerie.
"You are the one the village chief mentioned who saved this village and exposed the true faces of those criminals, aren’t you?"
Gejiev stared intently at Reiger for a while before bowing and expressing his thanks.
"Thank you for your assistance."
This bow and thanks were not only for himself but also for the villagers of Kain Village.
Reiger had protected those he was meant to protect, and just for that alone, Gejiev felt compelled to show his gratitude.
"You don’t need to do that," Reiger shook his head and said to the strong man before him. "I didn’t lend a hand to help you."
"Even so, I still owe you thanks," Gejiev said earnestly. "Additionally, I’d like to have a chat with you if it’s convenient?"
"Sure," Reiger suddenly smiled. "I am quite interested in the Commander of the Warriors as well."
"Then I’m in your debt," Gejiev relaxed his face, turned to the village chief, and said, "Could you prepare a place for us to talk?"
"Yes, yes, of course," the village chief nodded repeatedly. "Please come this way."
And so, everyone walked together into the village, leaving the square behind.