Chapter 345.
Chapter 345 – Stalking
“Let’s part ways on this occasion, Mr. Captain.”
On the streets of a small coastal town, Erin said goodbye to the captain of the Fortune.
“Ms. Diaz, is it true that I don’t need to send someone to escort you?”
He watched breathlessly as the two ladies, who were supposed to be dainty, each led a high horse.
After disembarking in this town, “Miss Diaz” had paid for two fast horses and matching accessories, and she and her entourage had transformed into valiant horsewomen.
She and her entourage became gallant horsewomen. In addition, she claimed to be proficient in swordsmanship on the ship, which was a far cry from the image of an education director in the captain’s head.
But despite this, the captain was still not comfortable letting these two female dolls leave on their own.
In case something happens, will His Lordship blame me?
There was such a layer of worry deep within his heart.
“Mr. Captain, there’s really no need. Thank you for taking care of me along the way, Leah and I are no strangers to this area, and we have acquaintances in the towns along the way to Jingyao that we can seek help from. You still have to organize the manpower to transport the goods to the destination right, so I can’t trouble you anymore.”
Although Erin’s weapon was kind, it also revealed determination.
“Oh, well …… then you two take care on the road and have a safe journey.”
The captain confirmed that the other party was indeed unwilling to accept help.
“Thank you, and all the best to you as well, goodbye.”
Erin and Leah rolled onto their horses, waved goodbye to the captain and the others, and left the town.
“A lot of great things have really happened in the kingdom in the year or so we’ve been away from home!”
After walking for half a day, Ayrin suddenly lamented as she rode on the back of her horse.
The Siege of Thorn Fortress, the Duke of the Eastern Realm’s foolishness, the Fougeres standoff, and the recent pirate invasion.
“Our kingdom …… is really plagued with disasters.”
Erin suddenly choked a little, “At a time when my father and sister were so exhausted, I actually hid myself in the Northwest Gulf ……”
She also said up whether she was now regretting her departure from home at that time.
Lina rushed over to comfort her, “Your Highness, you are not hiding in the Northwest Gulf either. Count Gleiman was able to provide so many supplies to the kingdom’s army, there is also a part of your credit, think about those schools you run, how many talents can you cultivate for the Count Lord.”
Erin shook her head and said, “Don’t flatter me, doesn’t Paul often say a phrase? [Ten years of trees, a hundred years of people], right now Alda’s educational endeavors are just getting started, and I can’t see any results in a short period of time.”
She smiled mockingly, “I reckon it’s not as good as that Hansel, at the very least he was able to pull in a large number of people who can read and write from the royal capital ……”
She was just about to continue when Leah suddenly made a motion to silence her.
“What’s wrong?”
Leah said with a stony face, “Your Highness, prepare your weapon.” As she said that, she also pulled out her own saber.
Erin’s face went cold, she wasn’t in a very good mood and this made it worse, “Hmph, any curmudgeons?”
She touched the sleeve arrow strapped to her arm, a gift from Lardy before the trip to use as a defense on the road.
Leah glanced behind her, “Did you notice the group behind us? I didn’t think anything of it at first, but I just realized that it looks like they’ve been following us.”
“Could they just be traveling the same way?”
“Even if it’s the same way, but if we’re fast, they’re fast, if we slow down, they slow down, and they’re just maintaining a distance that’s not too far, what’s going on?”
“You’re right!” Being reminded by the female guard, Ayrin was also alerted.
The two women didn’t urge their mounts to run fast, they just turned their horses’ heads and stood on the spot to seriously gaze at the people trailing them.
There were eight people in this group, and seeing the two women’s actions, they knew that they had already caused the other party’s alarm, and also stopped traveling.
Both sides stared at each other from a distance of several dozen meters, and the atmosphere became weird for a while. After a minute or so of confrontation, Leah finally couldn’t take it anymore, “Your Highness, I’ll go over and ask.”
“I’ll join you.”
“No, it’s better for you to stay here, and if the other side lashes out, immediately ride away quickly.”
Eileen narrowed her eyes and said with some teasing hints, “Ha! A few brigands in the district forced you to let your lord run first, could it be that more than a year of teaching has already degraded you to this extent. Hm? My female knight.”
“Ugh, fine.” Leia knew this little princess’s temper.
Erin wasn’t too worried about the female squire, the people on the opposite side of the street were dressed in civilian clothes and weren’t seen to be carrying swords or other weapons. The force gap between knights and commoners was no joke, even if Leah, who was a woman, was weaker than those men in terms of strength, as long as they didn’t get close to their bodies, female knights who had been trained in martial arts since childhood and wielded a longsword weren’t something a bandit from a wild background could deal with.
However, to their surprise, the opposite side of the gang actually ran over to their side first.
Leah clamped her legs on her horse’s belly, her long sword pointed diagonally at the ground, ready to go, and Erin directly raised her arm, pointing her loaded sleeve arrow at the other side.
The person at the head of the opposite side waved his hand repeatedly, while shouting, “Don’t misunderstand, our own people, our own people.”
“Huh? Why does the voice sound so familiar.”
Ayrin was a bit strange, but still didn’t put down her sleeve arrows.
When they got closer, Leah drank, “Who the hell are you people? What are your intentions in following us?”
“Don’t be in a hurry, Lord Leah Lambert, let me explain slowly.” The man in the lead tugged at his beard as he spoke.
The two women were shocked that he had called out Leah’s full name, however, to their even greater surprise, the other man’s beard was fake, and with a bit of force, it was ripped off, revealing a face that was unexpected to them – Velos, the merchant who had traveled south on the Fortune together.
The men behind Velos also took off their hoods or disguises – they were all passengers on the Fortune.
“Velos, it’s you! I knew you didn’t have good intentions!”
Erin aimed her sleeve arrow at him with some annoyance; the guy had always been around himself back on the ship.
“Your Highness Erin! Please listen to my explanation.”
Obviously, he knew Erin’s identity, but Erin wasn’t surprised that the other guy had called out Leah’s full name.
Velos raised his hands while showing a bitter smile, “We are following Lord Orphena’s order to lurk by your side to protect your well-being.”
What? Ayrin was taken aback.
Velos rolled over and dismounted from his horse, pulling out a roll of paper and handing it over with both hands, “This is my proof, please examine it.”
Erin was just about to pick it up when she was stopped by Leah, who took it herself, unwrapped it and looked it over.
She nodded to Ayrin, “It is indeed Lord Ophina’s handwriting, and the contents are indeed as he said.”
Ayrin stared at Velos, “Is it Sister Orphena? Then …… then it is also the authorization of Sister Wang?”
Velos bowed his head and said nothing, as if he had acquiesced.
Ayrin suddenly thought of something and asked sharply, “Say, when did you guys sneak up on us?”
“Uh …… your highness don’t be angry.” Velos hesitated a bit and stammered, “We found you at Stony Pier Castle and then tailed you all the way to the Northwest Bay.”
He suddenly knelt down on one knee, “The time we encountered the black-spotted tiger in the forest, it was our fault for not guarding it, and we ask for your forgiveness.”
They were also unfamiliar with the area at that time, while Erin and Leah were scurrying around in the forest, and at one point they didn’t keep up, but luckily they ran into Paul and Laddie who came to their rescue.
“Stony Pier Castle? Isn’t that not far from Jingyao?”
Erin was inexplicably a bit discouraged, so it turned out that her whereabouts had been grasped by Sister Wang.
(End of chapter)