Our Family Has Fallen

”Assemble a squad. The battle isn’t over yet.” Lance cast his gaze into the forest at the edge of the farm and briefly explained the mission. ”They all have two horses per person, but none are here. This means they stashed the other horses before the charge. We must recover these horses before our enemies do.”

”Yes!”

Quickly, a ten-man squad was temporarily formed. They hadn’t suffered any serious injuries in the recent battle and still retained their combat strength.

”Move out!”

Lance wasted no words, immediately mounting Alvin’s—no, what was now *his* warhorse—and charged out.

Reynard followed closely behind. He sensed that the Lord seemed very familiar with these invaders, as if the Lord knew exactly where their horses were.

In fact, his feeling was correct. Lance easily activated the Ability ”Bloodhound Tracking” and quickly located where the enemies had hidden the horses. With so many horses gathered, their scent was unmistakable.

The subsequent operation was almost too smooth: Lance led the squad in, took down the two Knights guarding the location, and then brought back the horses, which were loaded with supplies.

All the while, Lance couldn’t stop smiling.

Reynard felt much the same. He was elated by the Cavalry Squad’s victory. Though he knew it was somewhat inflated, their achievements were tangible. With this victory, the other units could no longer disparage the Cavalry Squad for consuming so many resources without producing results. Moreover, the squad might be able to claim some of these warhorses, expand their numbers to one hundred, and form a proper squadron...

The battle had been tough, but the rewards were equally substantial.

While Lance and Reynard went to recover the warhorses, Grendel led the soldiers stationed there to manage the aftermath.

The treatment of the wounded and the cleanup of the battlefield were handled so proficiently that Lance didn’t need to concern himself; by the time he returned, the battlefield situation had mostly been assessed.

Of the enemy Knights, four had died, leaving forty-five survivors. Most of these had only minor injuries, and their conditions were stable. This meant that the Order of Knights, which originally numbered fifty (not counting Alvin and the Baron), had only lost three members to Heretics during their journey; the rest had all been present for this battle.

Due to Lance’s intervention, almost no one in his Cavalry had died. Even those who were severely injured and near death had been pulled back from the brink—such was the might of Supernatural Power.

They had seized fifty full sets of standard Knight’s Armor and a variety of other assorted weapons and equipment. However, the fierce battle had left all the gear with varying degrees of damage, likely requiring repair before reuse.

But these were considered normal spoils. What was truly important were the horses.

Including those recovered from the forest, they had captured ninety-two warhorses in this battle. The rest had either died or were too maimed to be worth treating.

The chaos of the battlefield had been such that even he couldn’t attend to everything; he had poured all his efforts into ensuring his soldiers survived. In his heart, his own soldiers were ultimately more important than the horses.

Beyond these common items, they had also gathered some quite interesting things: two sets of fine-quality armor and weapons. Their performance in the recent battle made it clear they were no standard-issue equipment.

The armor is good, and the swords are fine, but it’s a pity... Lance thought. After his battle with Warwolf, he wasn’t unaware of armor’s importance. But when he picked up their gear to weigh it, it felt light—utterly Mundane Iron. Ever since using ”Wolf Fang,” he knew he couldn’t go back; these defenses, meticulously crafted by artisans, would be easily sliced through by ”Wolf Fang.” To satisfy his needs, it seemed only Extraordinary Equipment would suffice.

Setting those items aside, Lance turned his attention to several smaller objects. Their glowing auras indicated they were indeed Extraordinary Equipment.

”Defense Seal”: Improves defensive capabilities but weakens explosive strength.

”Knight’s Badge”: Enhances Life Force without any side effects.

”Swordsman’s Badge”: Increases physical strength at the cost of reduced recovery ability.

”Military Command”: Boosts muscle explosiveness and speeds up recovery, with the downside of reduced resistance to corrosion.

The first two items were looted from Alvin. They focused on either stacking defense or boosting health—no doubt his family had equipped him with them for survival, as they had few major side effects. The two pieces of Extraordinary Equipment found on Baron Lawrence, on the other hand, both enhanced melee combat, though they came with considerable downsides. Interestingly, their combat styles were quite the opposite: Alvin was very aggressive, while Lawrence was rather cautious and conservative. If Reynard hadn’t backed Lawrence into a corner, the fierce battle just now probably wouldn’t have happened.

Alvin and Baron Lawrence were both nobles, so it wasn’t surprising they possessed such items. Unfortunately, aside from the ”Military Command” being somewhat interesting, the rest were mere trinkets that he didn’t particularly care for.

Lance set the Extraordinary Equipment aside for the time being and proceeded to open the two men’s personal pouches as if they were treasure chests.

He rifled through a hodgepodge of items, but Potions made up a significant portion.

The packaging of these items was all too familiar to Lance, and he couldn’t help but glance at Grendel, who was standing nearby.

”These are Potions made by the Deerhead Tribe. Bastia has always been the main trading partner between the tribe and the Empire,” Grendel admitted frankly, without any attempt to conceal the fact.

”We’ll discuss these matters when we return.” Lance had only been curious and had no intention of assigning blame. Instead, he subtly reminded her that some topics were unsuitable for the current setting.