"As a knight, one should face the enemy head-on and win victory through fair means. Any other roundabout or underhanded method is an insult to one's own honor and chivalry." Rodhart's face showed an expression of unmatched bravery. "But tactically speaking, I'm afraid they might use Lord Chinzei to threaten us directly, so it seems like we should sneak up on them quietly. What do you think?"

  "Do whatever you want." Asa's reply was straightforward.

  "I want to preserve my identity as a knight and also complete the task perfectly... I must find a way that satisfies both..." He held his head in deep thought.

  "I choose to sneak in quietly. This way, we're not violating the knight's code of honor, but rather valuing life more." Rodhart finally found a reason that reconciled both methods and decided on tactics with great enthusiasm, and he was even more proud of himself for finding this solution. "I now have a deeper understanding of the chivalric code."

  He brought Asa to the place where the imperial commissioner was said to have had an accident that day. This was a thicket in the middle of a wooded area, and it was a shortcut that had been naturally trampled out by horses and people passing through here frequently. Such an environment is indeed very suitable for bandits to come and go. The imperial commissioner dared to bring only two or three attendants to walk into this place, obviously overestimating the local security situation.

  Roderick looked around and said, "Fortunately, it hasn't rained, and the local officials were afraid to send someone to search for fear of startling the robbers and putting the imperial envoy's life in danger." He said proudly, "Now I can use the tracking methods I learned in school to find the traces of these mountain bandits."

  He bent down to carefully examine the ground and the grass. After a while, he stood up, rubbing his sore waist, and said in surprise: "There is no trace at all, those soldiers from the municipal hall actually took my money and cheated me."

  "It's just here, only a dozen or so, no horses, they're marching the imperial envoy under escort." Asa had already spotted the footprints on the ground and the trampled grass. "Follow me." Asa plunged into the depths of the forest, Rodhart hastily following behind him.

  In the forest, Asa almost effortlessly found the mountain bandits' trail and followed it. This was too easy for someone who had once played a game of tag with a werewolf in the most dangerous no-man's land on the continent. The traces were so obvious to Asa that they seemed to be deliberately left there. He jumped, dodged, and ran through the forest with ease, like an animal moving freely in its own territory, while Rodhart struggled to keep up behind him, weighed down by his steel armor.

  Asa suddenly stopped and reached out to grab Rodhart who was following behind him.

  Four roots that looked extremely natural stretched from the base of four trees all the way to the top, blending in with other natural vines and rendering them inconspicuous. This trap was quite up to standard, and it was obviously designed for humans, as animal traps didn't need to be disguised so well, nor would they be placed where they themselves had walked before.

  This is just a snare trap, without any deadly mechanism. This kind of trap that cannot immediately kill people usually doesn't have much effect on humans, as long as you have something like a knife on you, you won't be trapped for too long. In other words, there must be something like an alarm bell on this trap to notify the person who set it up to come and capture, so the lair of the mountain bandits can't be far from here either.

  Asa said to Rohdahrt: "Take off that armor of yours, it's too heavy, you can't run fast."

  Rothbart shook his head and said: "No way, this is a knight's emblem."

  "If you can keep up with me, then follow; if not, then go on your own and try to delay the mountain bandits as much as possible." Asa found that this kind of person was really troublesome and didn't want to bother with him anymore. Judging from his skills, he should be able to handle about ten or so mountain bandits without any problem.

  Asa picked up a larger withered branch from the ground and threw it towards a pile of weeds in front. With a swishing sound, a large net suddenly rose from the withered leaves and weeds on the ground and gathered among the treetops, while a faint bell sound came from afar.

  Asa immediately identified the direction and distance of the sound. He rushed to the side, preparing to bypass the approaching mountain bandits and sneak into the den quietly.

  Roderick struggled to keep up for a few steps, but watched as Asa used his hands and feet like a mountain cat, darting through the trees before disappearing. He shook his head in frustration and walked back to the trap to wait for the bandits' arrival.

  After a brief sprint, Asa saw several simple thatched huts on the clearing in front of him, with several piles of dying bonfires next to them, and several wooden houses on top of large trees. This should be the bandits' camp.

  It's just such a simple den, this group of mountain bandits is really not professional enough, and they look more like a temporary mob. He already had an idea, no need to sneak in secretly, just rush in and knock them down one by one. Through the trees and weeds, he could already see several figures, Ah Sa suddenly rushed out of the woods.

  But he immediately discovered that he had no idea which one to knock down first.

  Several old men holding wood stared at him blankly. The clothes on these old people were already very difficult to cover their bodies, and their faces were full of wrinkles of hardship, their backs were hunched, and their waists could not be straightened, standing there majestically, as if they would fall down at any moment without even hitting themselves.

  A few snotty little kids in the treehouse started yelling at him, some wearing leaves and others stark naked. One of them was still peeing and when he saw him emerge from the thicket, he enthusiastically sprayed his urine towards him, making loud whooshing sounds with his mouth, unfortunately the range was far from what he had hoped for.

  Upon hearing the children's cries, a dozen or so women emerged from the thatched huts and tree houses, still holding animal hides in their hands. They saw Asa but did not show fear, only surprise on their faces, with one of them walking over. This was a middle-aged woman, whose clothes were relatively intact, her hair tied back with a bundle of grass, with a hint of cleverness and resourcefulness in the rustic simplicity of her face, probably the leader among the women. She approached Asa and asked: "Young man, did you trigger the alarm?"

  "Ah." Asa replied blankly. He now had no idea how to react, it was totally impossible for him to rush into the crowd of old people, children and women and start a big fight like he had imagined.

  The woman looked at Asa and asked: "Are you lost? You don't seem to be a local. Are you a wandering outsider?"

  "Oh." Asa nodded along with the momentum. The knife was hidden behind his back under his robe, and he still wore the old long gown that Sandru had given him. As for his hair, beard, and face, he couldn't see them himself and never paid attention to them, probably not looking like a person of status.

  "Aren't you hungry? Come in and have a warm bowl of soup." The woman showed the hospitality typical of rural poor people. "My husband has gone out to check on that trap you triggered, it's only used for dealing with soldiers, he'll probably be back soon."

  If it weren't for being deep in the woods, no matter how you look at it, this place is just a small village in the countryside. Asa remembered that Rodhart was still there. He would definitely get into a fight with the husband of the woman he met, and his knight's steel armor and sword made it clear that he had come to rescue the messenger. He turned around and walked back the way he came.

  Just a few steps away, more than 20 men came over. They were also wearing rough clothes, holding farm tools such as pitchforks and hoes in their hands, except for two men who held short swords and bows. Rodhart was surrounded by the crowd, chatting with the men beside him in a familiar manner. He saw Asama waving his hand from afar.

  Waiting for them to approach, Asa stared at Rodhart and asked: "What's going on?"

  Rodhart laughed like a child: "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, these are all my fellow villagers from the nearby villages. I haven't seen them for many years, this is Hunter Leven, this is Brother Bomb..." He introduced the men next to him one by one, as if he were a prodigal son returning home with friends.

  They sat around the bonfire and chatted for a while before realizing they were all villagers from nearby villages. They had fled into the mountains due to the sudden increase in taxes over the past few months, surviving by hunting and occasionally robbing passing travelers. Yesterday, they saw a man dressed in finery with several attendants at the edge of the forest, thinking he was just an ordinary rich man, so they went up and tied him back. Who knew it was actually the imperial envoy sent from the capital, causing the local officials in the city to be on high alert.

  "We must let him go, it's absolutely unacceptable to kidnap a high-ranking official of the imperial court." Rodhart advised the crowd.

  "No way." Someone immediately objected. Asa remembered that this was a man named Bomb Brother introduced by Rodhart earlier. He was a bald-headed fat man with a meaty face, and it was hard to see any signs of poverty from his chubby cheeks. It was said that he used to be a butcher, and the fat he accumulated at that time had already taken root in his body, inseparable from himself, even if he starved to death, it wouldn't change his figure. He stood up first and said: "Just letting people go is not enough. Such a big thing, will the local officials let us off? In peacetime, they have exploited us so badly, now that they are humiliated in front of the imperial envoy, lost their jobs, won't they wipe us out? We plan to take advantage of this opportunity to make a good deal with those guys, and then everyone takes the money and leaves." This was also the idea of most people, and it brought not a few voices of approval.

  "But this is against the law. As a subject of the Empire, one should obey the law. Moreover, I've heard that the Imperial Envoy is a learned expert in theology, and we are all believers in God, how can we do such a thing?" Rodhart probably felt that as a knight, participating in this topic was unbecoming, and wanted to clarify his stance.

  "If the local officials could legally starve us all to death." Hunter Levin is the leader of this group. He's a lean, small-headed man with no visible fat on his body, but he seems to be able to squeeze out iron juice; his skin is pitch black, his hair is tied up in a strange way with a cloth strip, and his face is painted with colorful patterns, leaving a small goat beard. "In your grandfather's time, those guys still had some scruples and didn't dare to go too far. But recently, it seems that the officials upstairs want to make a move, thinking of making money from us. First, the land tax was increased, then the business tax was doubled, and finally, they said that this forest is also owned by the state, and hunting in it also requires taxation. Everyone has stopped doing anything, can't even maintain their livelihoods, and yet they still want us to donate head taxes; if we don't pay, it's against the law, and there's suspicion of being a heretic. The laws they've set are driving us to this point, do you still want us to follow the law?"

  Rodhart shook his head and said, "This is just the mistake of these local bureaucrats. Because they are too far away from the capital, these local officials dare to be so reckless. The imperial envoy was sent by the capital to supervise them. As long as we report our difficulties to the imperial envoy clearly, he will surely give us justice."

  The woman who just greeted Asa is the wife of hunter Leven. With a sharp analysis unique to women, she said: "Little Rod, you've been in that school for too long and learned too many rigid things from books. What are those things? Just a few words, a few ink-painted things. We see reality. Think about it, will this imperial envoy be closer to those dog officials or us? If he goes to the city, will he eat at our house and sleep at our house? Do you think they will maintain us?"

  "No, justice will be served and evil will be punished. My grandfather taught me that."

  "I've lived for seventy years, and I've never seen what 'justice' and 'righteousness' are." An old man beside him said. His teeth were almost gone, his words were unclear, but they carried a heavy tone. He looked around at the people, emphasizing: "Seventy years."

  Rodhart's face had turned slightly red, whether from excitement or something else, and looked like the color he had when hiring mercenaries in the city tavern. He said very forcefully: "No, there must be. My grandfather also told me so." He suddenly remembered that there might be an ally beside him, and turned to Asa with great sincerity: "Asa friend, you must also believe in the reason and justice of this world?"

  A Sa frowned and searched his memory with effort, looking at him cautiously and answering honestly: "It seems I haven't heard of such a thing."

  "No. He must have!" Rodhart stood up more excitedly, undaunted by the disadvantage of being outnumbered. "Think about it, if we politely send the inspector back, he'll see that we could have extorted money but didn't, and he'll definitely be moved by our sincerity to uphold justice for us. You all should know, I've heard that this inspector used to do research at a theological academy, so he must possess great wisdom and magnanimity."

  Everyone was silent. Probably seeing him so excited, it's not good to pour cold water on him.

  "What's the use of extorting money from us? We would still have to leave our homes and hide elsewhere, never having the chance to return to our own land. And every day we would be in fear of being discovered and caught. Is this kind of life good? If only the imperial envoy can help you adjust the tax back and punish the local officials, everyone can go back to their old way of life."

  The villagers were stirred up, and these few words were very enticing. For a native-born rural commoner, the feelings of hometown and way of life are indeed irreplaceable things. "It seems what he said makes sense..." Some people have already begun to acknowledge his words.

  Rothbart was almost imploring: "Believe me, I swear on the honor of a knight and on my grandfather's honor."

  This guarantee was also very powerful, Rodhart's grandfather had a high prestige among the villagers. People started discussing one after another. After a while, hunter Leven finally nodded. "Okay, since you said so, and anyway the final result is to release people, let's just listen to you and take a gamble."

  Rodhart said firmly and confidently, "This is not a gamble, it must be like this. Don't think of this world as too dark, just like I heard people in the city say that there are a group of extremely evil mountain bandits here, aren't you all good people? As long as we have a bright heart, we will see that there aren't so many bad people in this world."