Chapter 382: A Simple Matter
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Clang! In the fortress in the center of Spring Leaf Village, a fully armored Warrior pushed open the door and walked into the main hall.
This Warrior was wearing blood red armor, a bright red cloak, and a helmet with fire red feathers. Looking from afar, he was completely dressed in red. When he walked quickly, he naturally gave off an extremely oppressive air.
He was Spring Leaf Village's lord, Balha.
"Master..." a young, elven slave rushed forward, wanting to help this Warrior remove his armor as usual.
"Scram!"
Balha's hand swung forcefully, his hand landing on the elf slave's face. Crack. The body of this elf slave who was less than 17 years old stopped, his neck was completely twisted around.
Without caring about this pathetic elf, Balha continued to walk forward until he reached the seat at the very end of the main hall, then he finally stopped. He shouted angrily, "Where are my slaves? Quickly come and help me remove my armor!"
Another two elf slaves approached cautiously, carefully helping Balha remove his blood red armor.
This time, Balha waited patiently for his armor to be removed. Then, after his armor was removed, he sat down. After a few seconds, he suddenly raged, violently throwing the wood carving beside his chair onto the ground.
Crack! The wood carving broke into pieces, forming a large hole in the ground. Balha roared, "Damned Laguans! Damned Blood Eyes! Don't let me catch you!"
This time, he personally led 1000 Warriors to clear the bandits. In the end, they were ambushed halfway. Never mind that over a hundred Warriors died, even Master Magician Rockham was stabbed by a sword and almost died.
Although he did not see eye to eye with Rockham, it was only an internal problem within Spring Leaf Village. Now, Rockham was almost killed, and it was because the Warriors did not protect him properly. This was a blow to his face!
Huff, huff. He sat on his chair, breathing heavily. His facial expression was livid. The surrounding people did not dare to make any noise, especially the two elven slaves who were afraid that they would end up like the previous slave if they were not careful.
The atmosphere in the main hall was so heavy that it was difficult to breathe.
Clack, clack. At this moment, light footsteps sounded. After a short while, a black-haired woman walked out from the main hall's back door. The woman had skin as white as chalk and a round face with beautiful features. Wearing an exquisite dress, she carried herself gracefully. When she reached the main hall, she saw the slave who had been beaten to death. She frowned, looking at Balha and said, "Lord, you vented your anger on others again?"
Weirdly, although Balha was originally in a rage, a smile actually appeared on his face once he saw this woman. "My wife, I lost control for a moment; it was not on purpose."
This woman was Balha's wife, Anlis.
Balha had a brutal personality, and people called him the Bloody Butcher. This wife was the very reason why his brutal personality was always displayed outside but hardly ever in his home.
Balha would fight and kill people as he wished, but for unknown reasons, once he saw his wife, his temper would disappear, and he would not scold a single person.
The whole of Spring Leaf Village knew of this.
Since the person had already died, and it was only a slave, Anlis did not nag Balha anymore after that.
"Carry him out and bury him," she said to an elven slave.
Once she appeared, everyone in the main hall let out sighs of relief. When the elves heard her instruction to bring the elf out to be buried, they said gratefully, "Thank you, Mistress."
If it were left to Balha, the elf would surely be taken to be chopped into meat slices and fed to the dogs.
After the young corpse was brought out, Anlis sighed and sat down beside Balha. Her discerning eyes stared at Balha. "Lord…"
Balha couldn't stand his ground under her gaze. He hugged his wife and said in a gentle voice, "Call me Jon. Don't call me Lord. I've told you many times."
"Alright, Jon, I don't wish for the house to constantly be filled with blood. It scares our child," Anlis said.
"Nonsense! My child would never be so cowardly… Alright fine, I won't do it again, I swear!" Balha said. He had one arm wrapped around Anlis's waist, while he raised his other arm to affirm his promise.
"Alright, I believe you," Anlis nodded. "Were those bandits that hard to deal with?"
Once she raised this up, Balha's anger was stoked again. He was about to rant and vent, but under Anlis's stare, he immediately quieted down. "That rabble has no true ability, they're just like little rats scurrying about. My Warriors were wearing heavy armor and couldn't catch them. Hmph! Tomorrow, I'll request for 100 black-robed soldiers from my father!"
The black-robed soldiers were Great Lord Bal's strongest soldiers. Every one of them had minimally Tier-2 strength. In total, they numbered 3,000 strong. They went through harsh training and had plenty of battle experience. They were the sharpest sword in Bal's realm.
Anlis stroked Balha's face, and said softly, "Alright, calm your anger. It's not worth flaring up over the bandits. In my heart, you, Jon, are the strongest Warrior. You're the one my child, and I will rely on."
Balha felt happy. He felt like his heart was melting and he hugged his wife tightly. However, in his heart, he swore. Laguan trash, just wait. I'll wipe the lot of you off this planet.
…
The Great Beast Forest
The floor was covered in blood and gore. There were over 300 corpses. Two hundred or more belonged to the halflings and elves, while about a 100 of them were Warriors from Spring Leaf Village.
At the edge of this battlefield, there was a group of people scavenging through the corpses. A large portion of them were halflings, while a few of them were elves.
They retrieved all the armor and weapons they could find, especially when they came across Spring Leaf Village Warriors. Even their underwear was not spared.
Among these halflings, there was one garbed in pitch-black leather armor. On his back were two transparent blue short swords that looked like crystal. Other halflings had a blood eye scar carved onto their foreheads. His, however, looked more like a bloody red eye constructed from magic talismans. It seemed almost real.
This was the Blood Eye Mercenaries' leader, Blood Pupil Maude. He stood quietly at one side, surveying the remains of the battlefield.
In this ambush, they traded the lives of 200 Laguans for 100 Araguans. This was a battle record with nothing worth being proud of.
After some time, a middle-aged halfling walked to his side. He was using a human Warrior's underwear as a handkerchief to wipe the blood off his face. After walking to Maude, he said, "After this, Balha will definitely come for revenge. We'll have to go back into the Great Beast Forest to hide for a while."
"I know. I also know that tomorrow, he will go to his father, Bal, to get reinforcements. If I'm not wrong, he must be preparing to go to Black Eagle City right now. Within three days, he will head out," Maude said, confident in his prediction.
The middle-aged halfling was stunned for a moment, but he quickly understood Maude's intention. "You mean to assassinate him along the way?"
Maude nodded. "Hehe, but of course. Anyway, we've got to escape. If we kill Balha, our fame will skyrocket. Then, even more, Laguans will come to join us."
The middle-aged halfling thought for a moment and nodded his head. "This is risky, but if we're going to kill him, then we need to plan this well."
Maude laughed and looked at his most trusted deputy. "Derek, you've got any good ideas?"
Derek laughed. Shing. He sheathed his sword and said, "Indeed I do. I heard that Balha dotes on his wife the most. Balha's temper is extremely volatile, and the elves hate him to the bone. I suggest we get some suicide troops to kill Balha's wife and throw him into a rage. That way, whether he goes to Black Eagle City to get reinforcements or comes out to battle us directly, we will still easily be able to rout him."
Maude pondered over this plan and laughed. "This plan is truly vicious. Haha! I love it! Let these Araguan's learn the taste of losing a loved one!"
"Hahaha… That year, my daughter was only nine. Nine!" Derek clenched his teeth in hatred.
Maude also exhaled slowly. He didn't say anything but patted Derek's shoulder. Within his mind, there appeared the figure of an elven woman. She was called Lili and was his older step-sister.
From young, the Laguans had mocked him for being a halfling. Only Lili had stayed close to him. Every time he was bullied, it was her who would seek justice for him.
Therefore, his stepsister became a hero figure in his heart, until one day, Warriors from Spring Leaf Village invaded and kidnapped the elven girls. Among them was his sister. They said she was just going to drink with them for a bit.
That night, he could hear his sister's voice, screaming helplessly for help.
The second night, all he saw was his sister's bloody mangled corpse. From then on, Maude swore that he would make all the Araguans from Spring Leaf Village pay the price of blood!
Clenching his fist, Maude stared at the sky. Up in the sky, it was as though a gentle girl was smiling at him.
"Sister, I will help you get revenge!"
At this moment, a scout ran out from the trees. After looking around cautiously, he ran up to Maude.
"Leader, I've found traces of the murderer!"
"Hmm, who is he? Where is he now?" Maude questioned.
"His name is Link, he's a Tier-1 Magician. He's currently hiding in Spring Leaf Village and is a student of Magician Rockman."
"Oh, is that so? Derek, find some brothers and sneak into the city. Find the chance to get rid of them and get revenge for our brothers!"
"Haha, it's a simple matter," Derek laughed.