Where do the slave-catchers of Singal go after they capture the Noldor?
Of course, back to Singal…
The place called Singal has the largest slave market in the entire continent.
According to the prisoner's account, the weapons factory was robbed by a slave-hunting group led by a guy named 'Fruz', and the robbery was done for a huge reward.
Then Fruz's slave-hunting group would naturally have to return to Singal, after all, they could only settle the bill after delivering the goods.
Fruz's slave-hunting group came from near Shieldwind Fortress, so they will most likely return from there, and this is indeed the most suitable route for the slave-hunting group. The south of the Dengil Mountains is a buffer zone between the Kingdom of the Fierce Lion and the Bacchus Empire. There are not many people for hundreds of miles, so the army will not encounter any trouble when passing through.
Fruz's slave-hunting group has a large number of people. Neither the Kingdom of Sarleon nor the Empire of Bacchus is likely to allow such a large force to enter their domestic territory at will. Therefore, the lord believes that they must return through the buffer zone between the two countries.
"Since Islandil failed to come here, it means that the enemy encountered Islandil's troops on their way back. If we hurry up, we may be able to meet them halfway."
The lord plans to head southwest immediately. If he is lucky, he may be able to intercept .
"In that case, let's do it! Your Majesty, goodbye. I really want to see if this Lord Leon is as he said..."
Wendatil agreed with Li Ang's suggestion.
Judging from her appearance, she didn't seem to need the Elf King's consent to do anything.
"Lisa Dilan, your teacher is of a very high status..."
"Master Vendatil is the teacher of most young Noldor. Her teachings have enabled the Noldor girls to possess powerful martial arts - the girl rangers she taught are more powerful than male rangers. Therefore, in the past two hundred years, girls have become an important armed force of the Noldor. She has a very high status in the hearts of the rangers and is not bound by any tribe."
Lisadiran whispered beside the Lord.
"But she looks so young. How old is she?"
Li Ang didn't expect that Lisa Dilan used the word "master". It didn't sound like she was talking about a beautiful woman.
"Sir Leon! We should set off immediately."
Wendatil glared at Risadiran, "I can hear you talking about my age. It's very rude, young man!"
She glared at Lisa Dilan, but her words were obviously about Leon.
The elves do have good hearing...
Lisadiran shrank his head and dared not say a word.
But Leon saw Lisa Dilan secretly gesture to him, stretched out three fingers, and then retracted one.
——That definitely doesn’t mean thirty-two, it seems to mean three hundred and two.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. I was just thinking about how to address you. But I hope you understand that once you leave the forest and enter the human world, you must obey my commands."
It was really rude to ask a woman's age and be heard by others. The lord bowed his head and apologized sincerely, but still put forward his request.
"If you can show me your ability to command, I will listen... I know I don't know much about humans, nor do I know how to fight on the plains, so I will certainly respect your opinion outside the forest - but we haven't left the forest yet, Lord Leon. And don't forget, I may take your life at any time."
With that, Vendatil turned back to her troops.
Seeing that Leon had been looking at Vendatil, Lisadiran said, "My lord, Vendatil is a true master. Her martial arts are far superior to those of the Twilight Knight. More than two hundred years ago, she independently developed combat techniques suitable for elven girls, which made the girl ranger an elite in the army... She is also a master in conduct. She will definitely fulfill her promises, so you don't have to worry."
It seems that three hundred years ago, when Wendatil herself was still a simple girl, she probably witnessed girls from her tribe being abducted by humans - so she trained herself into a powerful female ranger, and taught martial arts to the Noldor girls, so that the girls would have the ability to protect themselves .
It is estimated that the martial arts she has figured out are more suitable for girls, so the strength of the female rangers is higher than that of the male rangers - of course, it is also possible that the female rangers know better what they will encounter after being captured by humans, so they will fight more desperately.
But from what Lisadilan said, Wendatil has single-handedly improved the combat effectiveness of the entire tribe, which is indeed worthy of respect.
In fact, the troops that Vendatil is currently leading also look quite strong—two hundred Noldor Rangers, half of them are men and half are women, all of them appear to be young Noldor, probably her students.
But the spirit of this student army is indeed extraordinary and gives people a sharp feeling.
However, the girl rangers in her team did not ride horses, probably because these students have not graduated yet.
In order to improve efficiency, Leon did not return to Bailu Fort, but let Lisadilan lead the way and walked in a straight line to the southwest, heading straight for the burned Shieldwind Fortress.
The lord's judgment was correct. The next day, when they arrived at the large camp where Islandil had killed three thousand mercenaries, they indeed met Islandil.
There were also dozens of human corpses in the camp, and judging by their attire, they were Singalians.
There are a few alive who seem to be being interrogated.
"Lisadiran, is this Lord Leon?... Hey, Wendatil!"
When Islandil saw Leon's troops, he originally planned to say hello, but when he saw Wendatil, he took the initiative to step forward.
"Islandil, where are your troops? Did you encounter the enemy before?"
Wendatil stepped forward and used no honorifics when facing Islandil, and the two were probably very familiar with each other.
"Yes, I encountered a human army not far to the northeast. Due to the large number of enemies, a large number of enchanted weapons, and many hostages of the Finwe family, I had to confront them for two days. But last night I found that they were planning to take some hostages away, so I had to launch a strong attack. As a result, they scattered and fled in all directions. I had to disperse the troops to pursue them..."
Islandil pointed to the corpses in the camp and quickly explained the military situation.
This prince actually took the initiative to tell the details. It seems that his respect for Vendatil is obvious. Leon felt that Islandil seemed to be a little afraid of Vendatil.
"Where are our abducted people?"
It was obvious that Wendatil was most concerned about the abducted tribesmen.
"I have only rescued half of them. The hostages they left behind to divert my attention were all men... But I saw several girls in the hands of the enemy before. They may have taken them away, but I don't know where they went. I am interrogating them. I have captured several prisoners..."
Islandir seemed a little nervous.
Soon, Leon understood why Lisadilan was so afraid of him as a teacher, and also understood what Islandil was nervous about...
Wendatil grabbed a prisoner and lifted him up by the neck with one hand, then threw him against a tree. "Where is your main force?"
The unfortunate prisoner kicked his feet in the air twice and made a few "humming" sounds in his throat, but no words came out.
Then Wendatil loosened his grip and took a half step back. As the prisoner fell against the tree trunk, he kicked the unfortunate prisoner in the lower body with lightning speed...
“Bang!”
The force of this kick was so terrifying that the tree, which was more than one meter in diameter, began to shake violently, and the sound of the bark cracking was deafening.
The prisoner fell limply along the tree, and there was no way he could be saved—there was probably only , which was still attached to the tree when he fell, and was finally torn off by the weight of his body...
The bark of the tree was shattered by the violent force, leaving a bloody radial footprint on the white trunk, which penetrated at least half an inch into the trunk!
Li Ang swallowed his saliva and was stunned - this strength was too terrifying! His previous words seemed to have come true. He might not be able to survive more than three moves under this person!
Islandil and Risadiran also swallowed at the same time.
No wonder Wendatil is not bound by any ethnic group... With such terrifying strength, someone must be able to restrain it!
The other two Singal prisoners were completely frightened to death, really pissed themselves.
"They're going south!"
"We went to Shieldwind Fortress..."
Seeing that Vendatil turned around and stared at them fiercely again, the two captives learned to answer quickly.
This answer was consistent with Leon's judgment, and Wendatil immediately led his troops south.
"Vendatiel! You left the forest with so many young people. You will easily become a target for humans..."
Islandir tried to stop him.
"Your Highness Islandil, isn't it better if the enemy has a target..."
Leon smiled at Islamdir.
Therefore, the first face-to-face communication between Leon and Islam became a tactical communication.
…
At night, near Shieldwind Fortress.
Today, Shieldwind Fortress is in ruins, with only a black stone wall left and the ground covered with black ashes from the burn .
But now, a large army of more than a thousand people is still stationed in this ruin.
It was indeed Fruze's slave-catching party, but there didn't seem to be any horses in sight.
Lisadilan had been here before and was familiar with the surrounding environment. He led the troops in the front and moved quite quickly.
After arriving near Shieldwind Fortress, Lisadilan, Leon and Wendatil went together as scouts to investigate.
Islandil led his troops and hid in a small forest.
The dark ruins could not actually hide people, and the three of them soon saw the troops in the ruins.
"What kind of man is that Fruz?"
Hiding behind a big tree with Lisadiran, Leon asked about the enemy's situation.
He was a little skeptical as to why the enemy was stationed here - it was too conspicuous, and the enemy had already captured several elf girls, so they shouldn't have stayed here.
This is not normal.
"He is a villain from Singal who specializes in capturing slaves. He is quite powerful..."
Risadiran knew about Fruz's slave-hunting group, which was the largest slave-hunting gang in Singal and also a large underworld organization.
Fruze had a big business and was very famous - but he had a very bad reputation. He was called "Fruze the Shameless".
The reason for this nickname was mainly because his slave-hunting group did not rely solely on war to capture captives as slaves.
This slave-hunting group was indeed a mercenary army, but they also plundered civilians in towns and villages, kidnapped children, and abducted women. The worst thing was that they even spared no effort on their own villagers.
There are even many evil women in this gang who specialize in seducing nobles - both men and women, anyone who is young, strong or good-looking is their target.
They would set up schemes to deceive people, mostly using methods such as honey traps and gambling, to force young noble men and women to sell themselves into slavery - noble girls were very expensive in the slave market, and those strong and strong young nobles were also very valuable.
When people become commodities, some people will do anything to get the "commodities".
But Fruze always claimed that he obtained slaves by "taking prisoners of war on the battlefield" - this behavior of doing it and then denying it is of course quite shameless.
After all, most of the 'slaves' he captured did not meet the definition of slaves anywhere.
Citizens of the country usually do not become slaves unless they have committed a serious crime and have been deprived of their citizenship, or they "voluntarily" sign a contract to sell themselves in a life-and-death gamble.
Most of the time, slaves were either criminals or warriors from hostile nations.
But Fruz didn't even spare the civilians of his own Principality of Desha. His gang deceived countless civilians and sold them into slavery, and there were also many young nobles...
It stands to reason that such an organization would be condemned by everyone in most places, but not in Singal - because Fruz's slave-hunting group is the largest supplier in Singal's slave market.
Plus, he had the audacity to insist that he was a prisoner of war captured on the battlefield... The slave traders in Singal would not go against Dinar.
Because Fruzi always only captured slaves and sold them "wholesale" to slave traders, but never got involved in the slave trading process in the market.
Yes, this is a 'supporting production enterprise' that specializes in acquiring slaves, not a 'trading company' that trades slaves.
The slave industry in Singal was clearly divided into upstream and downstream sectors, and although Fruz had a large business, he never overstepped the boundaries.
Business cooperation without competition is equivalent to iron-clad alliances, and Singal's slave traders will certainly join forces to retain this largest supplier.
"So this guy is not only shameless, but also knows when to advance and when to retreat. He also has many liars under his command..."
Li Ang frowned.
This kind of enemy is the most difficult to deal with and will definitely not make any low-level mistakes.
This means that the reason why this troop stayed here was definitely not because they were tired from the journey and wanted to rest for a night - the Shieldwind Fortress was already in ruins and could not shelter from the wind and rain. Instead, it would be easy for the Noldor to discover it.
If you really want to rest, you should go to the uninhabited area further west.
"Ms. Vendatil, what do you think we should do now?"
The Lord turned around and asked.
Wendatil looked at the camp hundreds of meters away, his eyes full of disgust: "Strike at night! We are strong enough to kill them!"
"I guess that's what the enemy thinks... Then, let's do as you say!"
Li Ang curled his lips and retreated back to the troops.
Half an hour later, Wendatil led her student army to launch a direct attack. These two hundred young Noldor were all elite archers, standing in formation more than a hundred meters apart and began to rain arrows.
The Singal people in the camp quickly poured out in all directions, appearing to be fleeing in all directions.
They were not sleeping, and their reaction speed was amazing. They dropped their things and started running.
There were actually not many Singalians who were hit by arrows. They started running away with their shields raised from a distance of more than a hundred meters, so it was certainly not easy for them to be shot to death.
And they seemed to have left a lot of things in the camp, and there seemed to be a few elves...
Wendatil immediately entered the Singal camp alone and rushed towards the tied 'Noldor girls'.
But when she was still about ten meters away, she suddenly stopped, threw down her bow, took off her sword and shield and took a defensive stance.
“You are not…”
“Bang!”
At this moment, in the camp, a dozen people suddenly jumped out from the ashes on the ground. Those "Noldor girls" also had sabers in their hands and surrounded Vendatil together.
Those 'Noldor girls' were certainly not real. They were just a few human women who had long ears disguised with wax, painted their faces with rouge and powder, and wore green clothes or were naked, dressed up as Noldor elves, and posed as 'slaves'.
That is the Singal witch from the slave-catching group.
Probably because they saw that Vendatil didn't get too close and knew they were discovered, they immediately launched an ambush.
Perhaps they usually use similar methods to deceive other nobles...
This is very similar to the fallen women in the taverns of Sarleon. It is said that in order to sell at a high price, the fallen women in Sarleon would use white wax to disguise their ears to look like Noldor elves, then use a lot of rouge and powder to make themselves look white, and then use spices to cover up the stench of abscesses on their bodies, and then hang around those drunkards who are so drunk that they can't see clearly...
Wendatil certainly had never seen such despicable tactics before, and as a result, more than twenty vixens surrounded her.
At the same time, all the Singalians who were fleeing on the periphery seemed to turn around and line up.
They picked up shields and bows, and gradually formed a circle - their seemingly chaotic escape just now actually gradually formed an encirclement of the Noldor rangers who were advancing step by step.
"Are you sure she's okay?"
Seeing Wendatiel facing more than twenty enemies alone, and then looking at Islandil's calm appearance, Leon felt a little worried.
Islandil shook his head: "Even if there were twice as many, they wouldn't be able to hurt her...Isn't Risadilan already beside her?"
Risadiran was indeed watching nearby, in the same tree where he had shot the letter into the castle, and beside him were two Twilight Knights with bows and arrows.
This was all to avoid any accidents, but Lisa Dilan found that he didn't seem to need any help...