Chapter 1280 - 858: Wolf and Rabbit_2

Chapter 1280: Chapter 858: Wolf and Rabbit_2

The rabbit girl struggled to calm her breathing.

"Go."

Gertai uttered a single word, grabbed the broadsword with a blood groove and torch-shaped guard at his side, and snapped it into the scabbard at his waist.

Behind him, five Night Watcher Warriors similarly garbed stood up simultaneously. The leather armor rubbed softly, without a single unnecessary word, like a trained wolf pack summoned by the alpha, silently and swiftly assembling behind the Captain.

The atmosphere at the entrance of the meeting hall had already dropped to freezing point.

The old town chief and several elders silently resisted the pressure of the Wolf Knights, while a few young and impassioned Rabbit Race militia who dared to glare were focused on by the Wolf Race leader, a sturdy Wolf Knight with a grim claw-mark scar on his face, his gaze filled with malice and teasing.

He was somewhat surprised by the rabbits’ audacity to resist during this conscription, but he didn’t care, as these minor verbal resistances were meaningless.

Perhaps rabbits bite when cornered, yet he completely disregarded these threats from the rabbits.

What significance does a rabbit’s threat hold?

"Three days, just three days, forty sturdy ones!"

The wolf leader impatiently struck his iron-armored shin guards with a whip, emitting a piercing metallic clang.

The dire wolf’s blood-red mouth gaped at the young Rabbit Race militia, its foul-smelling saliva dripping onto the soil.

"You... look quite strong!"

He grinned, baring sharp white teeth, maliciously pointing at them.

"Chief, please have mercy..."

A Rabbit Race elder pleaded tremulously.

"There aren’t many able-bodied men left in the tribe. Sixty were conscripted the year before last, forty-five last year... this year it’s already increased to forty-five, none have returned.

"They have elderly and children to care for, the fields too..."

Although their Rabbit Race town isn’t small in scale, how can it withstand such conscription?

Any further conscription and all the young people will perish. How can this be acceptable?

"Shut up, old thing!"

The wolf leader rudely interrupted, pointing the whip at the red-eyed young Rabbit Race who had just glared at him.

"No able-bodied men? What about him? His glare seems fine, bravery not lacking! The Empire needs warriors like him! I think he’s perfect as a scout!"

"He’s still too young, without any experience! Besides... the town needs patrols, there are dire beasts and corrosive slimes on the forest edge..." the town chief explained with difficulty, filled with sorrow.

In the past, resigning to fate was the only option in situations like this.

If the numbers aren’t brought together, the entire tribe could face severe punishment, possibly even have more people forcibly conscripted away.

Amidst the spreading atmosphere of despair, a wholly different aura of slaughter, like a frigid winter current, swept from the other end of the street.

The heavy metal boots hitting the pavement sounded uniform and orderly, neither hurried nor slow, yet carrying the imposing presence of a formidable army.

The dire wolves under the Wolf Knights first began to stir uneasily, baring their teeth, emitting low, warning growls.

They sensed a threat from deep within their souls.

The Wolf Knights sharply turned their heads, and upon seeing the newcomer clad in eye-catching gray-blue soft armor with a torch emblem on their shoulder, their pupils instantly contracted into slits.

The scarred face of the leading wolf leader voiced a startled, uncertain low growl: "Night Watcher?!"

Gertai, leading his squad, directly passed through the Rabbit Race crowd that separated again out of fear, like a ship breaking through the waves.

They didn’t confront the Wolf Knights but calmly walked to the other side of the meeting hall, forming a faint triangulation with the town chief’s group, conveniently blocking the side entrance of the main street center entry.

"Captain Karen, enjoying yourself?"

Gertai spoke, voice deep and steady, like a stone dropped into a deep pool, strangely carrying penetration power, his gaze sweeping across a tribal emblem on the wolf leader’s shoulder armor.

"I hear Bloodfang Tribe performed impressively on the White Stone Front? Surprised to see ’Redhowl’s’ confidant here in this remote ’Tubergen’."

He accurately pointed out the opposing major tribe and even mentioned the name of the notoriously fierce general in the tribe.

The wolf leader revealed as Captain Karen’s face slightly shifted.

The Night Watcher’s precise intelligence and depth of understanding into Beastman Empire’s internal affairs set off alarm bells in his heart.

He had only heard similar rumors before, and seeing it firsthand still left him a bit uncertain and confused.

The key issue was even he couldn’t determine whether the Night Watchers’ statement was true, as he hadn’t received any related intelligence returned.

After all, this was the other side of the Beastman Empire, and the frontend mentioned was at the distant other end of the empire.

He had just learned of the situation himself.

Suppressing the unrest of the dire wolf and his own doubts, he forced himself to stand tall, speaking in a forcibly restrained rough and unfriendly tone.

"Night Watchers! This is an internal conscription affair of the imperial corps! It’s our Beastman’s business! What does it have to do with outsiders like you?

"What are you doing here at this time? Do you intend to disrupt the empire’s conscription?"

He tried to impose a severe accusation.

Though the Night Watchers were forceful now, they hadn’t reached the extent of arrogant interference in various kingdoms’ internal affairs.

It’s vital to know how the Night Watchers are very cautiously regarded by numerous forces, if they still conducted themselves so blatantly, it would surely agitate these entities.

Of course, this captain definitely wouldn’t fathom these. He simply habitually conducted himself thusly.

Gertai’s face remained expressionless, like a stone sculpture weathered by time.

He didn’t directly answer Karen’s question, merely slightly turned his head, calmly speaking toward the direction of the old town chief who instinctively guarded the targeted young militia behind Karen:

"No need to worry, old Wendell. We passed by on patrol, heard rumors of the imperial war figures visiting this border town.

"Found it curious, came to witness, see the Wolf Knights’ demeanor. Continue your discussion, no need to mind us."

He casually turned the "intervention" into "spectating."

At this moment, two Night Watchers behind Gertai stepped forward slightly, simultaneously lifting their hoods.

Under the hoods were two Rabbit Race warriors!

Their signature long ears were conspicuously evident, eyes crimson and sharp, faces sternly scanning the opposing Wolf Knights.

"Hmm?"

Gertai seemed to only now notice the presence of the two Rabbit Race subordinates, calmly stating.

"Oh, my memory fails me. My two team members, Toru and Sela, are originally from Tubergen."

This is why they were stationed here, after all, they were responsible for the Beastman Empire’s nodes wherever they were, it might as well be their team members’ hometown.

Having their team members mediate facilitated work greatly.

The outcome proved superb, as this little town embraced the Night Watchers exceptionally well.

He paused, directing his gaze again at the steel-faced Karen, his tone intensifying slightly, akin to stating an insignificant yet unavoidable fact.

"So Captain, the term ’internal affairs’ seems... inaccurate when applied to Night Watchers Patrol Toru and Sela’s hometown.

"Their home is indeed within ’internal affairs’ as you mention, isn’t it?"

The logic of the Night Watchers was clear and compelling.

The crucial question was, whereas the Wolf Race warriors, though cunning, couldn’t comprehend such nuanced intricacies.

In essence, it sounds right, leaving him momentarily clueless on how to rebut, as he’s merely a squad leader in a major tribe.

The presence of the two Rabbit Race Night Watchers instantly transformed "purely Beastman internal affairs" into a matter with rightful Night Watchers’ interest and potential interference as "hometown safety of the team members," justifying their observance.

Although unreasonable, others couldn’t grasp it, which sufficed.

Karen almost choked, his scar flushed red with rage, like a twisted centipede.