"Got it." Teresa pulled the blanket tighter around her and saw that the Kingdom Knight had already stood up, so she called out to him.
"Laine."
"Hmm?"
"Be careful."
"Hehe, don't worry about it."
The tent's flap was lowered, and the female sorcerer felt a long-lost comfort. Sleepiness soon swept over her.
This wasn't the first meeting between her and Laine. Their first encounter was when Laine was sixteen, and at that time, Teresa had just turned twenty.
After Laine was adopted by the Lord 'Bald' Norman of Autene in the Nord Kingdom, this young boy displayed incredible talent. He awakened his professional talent at the age of three, and under the Justice Church's witness, he successfully changed his profession... To this day, no one has figured out what profession he actually belongs to. Many speculate that it is a unique gift from the God of Justice, and people can only confirm that his basic profession is a Warrior.
For some unknown reasons, he seemed far more mature than his peers. At the age of eight, he had read most of the books in the Nord National Library and completed noble etiquette courses on his own. His talents in conversation and study shocked the nobility of the entire Nord Kingdom.
When Laine was thirteen, the Northern Barbarians invaded again. His father—the White Wolf Knight Norman wanted Laine to accompany him to the battlefield. However, Laine uttered a famous line: "Father, if I follow you to the battlefield now, I might immediately be cut in half like a stray dog, so please give me another three years, and I will surely become a knight no worse than you."
By coincidence, three years later, the Northern Barbarians launched another attack on Lapland Port. Their first meeting was in the year Laine turned sixteen. In that battle, sixteen-year-old Laine beheaded a Barbarian Warrior on the battlefield and single-handedly killed five Barbarian soldiers. The King of Nord knighted Laine as a Ranger Knight and invited many to participate in the knighting ceremony. That was her first encounter with Laine.
The second meeting was when this young man was knighted as a Kingdom Knight. At that time, the terrifying Chaos Beastman Lord "Sharp Fang" Gor was leading thousands of Beastmen rampaging within the Nord Kingdom. Several Kingdom Knights and a few hundred-man teams witnessed Laine dueling with Gor atop a cliff, from dawn till dusk, one man against one beast. Ultimately, Laine took Gor's head, earning him the nickname "Great Hammer" and the title of Kingdom Knight.
Nobody was clear about the exact extent of Laine's abilities, but it was certain that an Elite Tier Warrior could not possibly defeat a powerful Chaos Beastman Lord alone, so Laine's strength was at least...
Teresa fell into a deep sleep from exhaustion.
"Lady Trovik? Lady Trovik?" It was unclear how long she had slept, but the female sorcerer awoke to a gentle call. Though she still felt extremely tired, she was slightly better than before. Looking up, she saw it was the mercenary Banda, who was always trying to please her. Teresa just nodded, noticing how Banda was straining his neck to catch a glimpse of her face. So she wrapped the white fox fur coat around herself to prevent this young lad from seeing anything else. "Is there something you need?"
"Mr. Laine has returned. He asked me to call you." The young mercenary had seen only the sorceress's beautiful face and swan-like white neck and black jade-like long hair, leaving him quite disappointed. He quickly sensed Teresa's unfriendly gaze and promptly spoke.
"Understood, you may leave now." Teresa indicated for Banda to exit.
The young mercenary initially hoped to exchange a few words with Teresa but found that the sorceress had no intention of speaking more. He felt very disappointed. He considered himself somewhat handsome, but given the sorceress's poor attitude, he didn't give up. "Is there anything you need help with, Lady Trovik? You look very tired…"
"No, you may leave. Tell Laine I'll be there shortly." Teresa reiterated that she didn't need anything, and Banda couldn't engage further and reluctantly had to leave.
Elsewhere, the mercenaries were noisily celebrating because the Kingdom Knight Laine had brought back an entire reindeer!
The large reindeer was being skinned and divided with short knives by the mercenaries. After experiencing the grief of significant casualties, the mercenaries finally found some solace in the evening's venison feast. Laine generously allowed the mercenaries to take some of the reindeer meat, keeping only a deer hind leg and two venison cuts for himself.
"Tsk, that damned knight, he just got lucky." Banda's face turned sour at the sight of the mercenaries cheering. "Truly knows how to win hearts, these nobles always know how to win hearts. These people hide behind high walls collecting taxes and enjoying the offerings of the poor, they should all die!"
Despite his words, the roasting venison's aroma wafted over. When Viert saw Banda arrive, he proactively handed the skewer with grilled meat to Banda, "Lord Laine got us some roasted meat, and it's so cold; eat more!"
"Mmm~" The young mercenary was indeed hungry, and at this moment, he couldn't care less. He took the grilled meat and began eating it heartily.
"That'll do for now, I'm going to check on Teresa. You guys carry on." Laine didn't want to remain with the mercenaries. Their habit of exchanging bowls and utensils made Laine uncomfortable, and besides, mercenaries and knights naturally didn't get along.