Small square in the middle of the settlement.

Diez could not understand what had happened to him and his men. Although the slave hunt this time was a success, he and his men were not relaxed at the slightest.

He and five of his men took a position in a house near the village square, waiting for villagers who might return.

Their position was ideal because in the village square there were bodies of 8 elderly and 14 toddlers that they killed. In addition, the village square was surrounded by the elders’ houses which were used to store foodstuffs and farming equipment.

The returning villagers would have gone straight to the village square, whether to pick up foodstuffs, work equipment, or bury the bodies they left behind.

Like experienced predators, Diez and his men waited silently and patiently, but what came to them was something beyond their wildest imagination.

Starting with a loud explosion that made their ears ringing. At the same time, their vision became blurred and their body lost balance, followed by a blunt object that repeatedly hit their body until they almost vomited blood.

Diez and his men were utterly helpless when their attacker roughly dragged them outside, then tied them to horse moorings. Hands tied above their heads while they sat on the ground with straight legs.

Diez counted that his captors consisted of nine people, and all of them were wearing green clothing. It also didn't take long before Diez realized that apart from uniformity in clothing and gear, his captors also had discipline and hierarchy.

All the clues refer to one thing, his captors were part of a military unit. But this was the first time he had seen such strange military personnel with insignia that he did not recognize.

The way they wrap the bodies of dead toddlers and the elderly also full of caution. After that, they put the corpses in one of the houses which were used as a funeral home.

Diez believes his captors have nothing to do with the villagers. So he had a hard time understanding their actions. Moreover, some of them spoke fluently using local language while the rest spoke using broken accents. But they all spoke more often in languages ​​he didn't understand.

Some of them also frequently press a button on their chest before talking to themselves. Meanwhile, the only weapon Diez recognized was a 25 cm long knife on their left waist.

‘Freaks, talk to themselves and put a knife to their left waist when they are right-handed,' Diez muttered before examining the black sticks hanging at the chests of his captors. 'Their sticks are no less strange. And they always aimed it forward before striking it in an odd way, but somehow a few of my ribs broke as a result.’

Diez took a deep breath before turning his head to one of the freaks guarding him. "If you let me go now, I will forget about this incident and you can take the valuables."

Baam!

Without any warning, the freaks kicked Diez' chin before casually saying, "When we say not to talk, you better shut your mouth up."

Diez wanted to curse the freak, but immediately held back, realizing that the next hit could kill him. But when Diez decided to keep quiet, one of the freaks who held the highest position knelt before him and asked.

"You're not in a position to threaten someone, so why do you confidently threaten us?"

Diez decided to open the card he kept for emergencies. "Looks like you guys aren't from around here. So, I understand if you don't know the customs in this area."

"Yes, we are not locals."

The Freak who questioned Diez smiled before offering him a bottle of water. He even helped Diez drink it, and for the first time Diez felt a very refreshing cold water. Not the cloudy water that was mixed with cheap wine to prevent stomach upset, as he used to carry.

Diez then confidently said, "We are not mountain bandits, but cavalry elements from Rowane Region, in charge of waging economic and agricultural disruption on Lionel Region."

"You mean by attacking and robbing traders or farmers, and selling them as slaves."

Diez nodded before adding, "My name is Diez Morallez. A Lieutenant in the Sidewick Cavalry, 5th son of Morallez Family, one of three noble families in Rowane Region. My family will pay dearly for my release."

The Freak smiled a little before asking again, "Ser Morallez, thank you for the information. Now, can you tell us your comrades' destinations, their routes, and their number?”

Diez did not immediately answer. Instead, he smiled scornfully. For thousands of years, nobles in Amstell Continent have had a tradition to not kill each other if there was no open conflict. So, Diez was sure that even if he didn't answer the question from The Freak, he would be fine because he had revealed his identity.

Moreover, the ransom for a member of a noble family was not a value that could be underestimated.

However, Diez's smile instantly evaporated after he saw the map shown by the freak. The map was not only detailed but also with a very wide radius. As a military officer, it was not difficult for Diez to realize that the map was a result of serious work, and was far more accurate than the map he had seen at the division headquarters.

The problem was, making a map without permission from the authorities could result in charges of treason and the death penalty.

It didn't matter whether it was a general map or a military map, only military officers at the level of brigade commander and above, or nobles with the top three positions in the government were allowed to have them.

However, currently, a military unit with only nine members had a better map compared to the one owned by a division commander.

'They are reconnaissance elements from a very advanced military unit. One of them is likely a high-ranking officer who is being guarded by an elite bodyguard unit.'

Diez quickly concluded, and when he remembered that over the past few months the number of Black Eagles and Gray Wolf that had left Desolate Land dropped dramatically, half of Diez's life immediately slipped away from his body.

'They are not an opponent we can face.'

Now Diez felt that The Freak's smile no longer looked like a smile. It looked more like the grin of a tiger who was talking to its prey happily.

One thing that Diez had in mind was, he had to warn his comrades that an invasion was approaching their territory. A moment later, Diez and his men did manage to get away from the small settlement they attacked this morning, it’s just that their destination was the afterlife.

—

By using the guidance from OH-58N, Cpl. Twig led two personnel to inspect a horse stable on the eastern end of the village. The heat signature captured by the Kiowa was indeed very small, but to make sure there were no hidden surprises, an inspection had to be carried out.

"Corporal, there's nothing here. No humans, no horses, or ghosts. Just a pile of horse dung in one corner of the stable."

The first personnel said, followed by the second personnel.

"Maybe this dirt was the heat signature caught by the Kiowa's sensors."

Cpl. Twig didn't answer. He switched the scope on his HK416A5 to a thermal sensor before examining the pile of horse dung in the corner of the stable.

"There are two layers of heat signatures, we have to check what's under this shit."

"Sir, this is just a pile of horse dung, shall we do it?"

Cpl. Twig nodded before saying, "Don't you remember that in basic training you were reminded to always check what you need to check so that later you won't regret it and saying, 'If only I had checked out that place.'"

Cpl. Twig's two subordinates rolled their eyes, but in the end they grabbed shovels in a corner, and together with Cpl. Twig the two began to remove the fresh horse manure.

Not long after that, Corporal Twig grinned.

"Well well well, what do we find here?"

Under the horse manure, turned out that it was a 50x50 cm wooden plank.

While pointing his HK416A5 with the flashlight turned on, Cpl. Twig opened the wooden plank. However, he immediately shifted his aim, from two toddlers who were sitting side by side and shaking in horror.

"Good Lord, thank goodness we checked this place," said one of Cpl. Twig's subordinates while his partner nodded firmly.

*****