Chapter 153： Thorn Keep II

A guard hurried to report:

"The scout who came back last night woke up and said that there is something important to report."

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became serious.

Important situation? Just how important is the situation? Are the rebels coming?

Duke Dodge stood up all of a sudden, and ordered the guard who came to report: "Take me to see!"

He stepped forward and walked out of the hall quickly.

Klein and Lester also got up and followed behind the old duke. No one was in the mood to wait for breakfast here now.

And Bowman and other attendants naturally had to follow.

The crowd quickly came to a barracks dedicated to housing the wounded, pushed the door open and entered.

"Is he awake?" asked the Duke hastily.

On the wooden bed in the corner, a wounded soldier with bandages all over his body was leaning on the quilt, and another person was feeding rice soup to him.

Seeing the three highest-ranking adults in the fortress coming, the man who was feeding the wounded soldier immediately stood up and saluted, and the wounded soldier on the bed also struggled to get off the ground.

The Duke immediately took a step forward and held him gently: "Since you are injured, don't move around, and continue to lie down."

"Thank you, Duke."

The seriously injured scout said softly, from the sound, it can be heard that his body is very weak now.

The guard brought some low stools and asked the duke and the other three to sit down.

"You said you have something important to report to me?"

The scout nodded and said, "Yes, I think the situation detected this time is very important."

After saying this, a look of sadness appeared on his face. He was the only one who came back from this mission, and what happened to the other two brothers who had been together day and night.

"Then tell us."

"Yes!"

The scout paused, carefully recalled the details of last night, and began to narrate slowly.

"Yesterday evening, we went to camp on the road that our team was in charge of to prevent nighttime raids by the rebels."

"It was about 8 o'clock in the evening. At that time, it was completely dark. We suddenly heard movement in the distance. While there was still some moonlight, we could vaguely see a few figures on the opposite side slowly touching the side of the road. Come here."

"The captain guessed that it was a rebel scout or a small group of troops. He took advantage of the dark to check the situation in the fortress. At that time, he planned to return to the fortress immediately to report the situation, but a sharp-eyed brother saw clearly that there were only five people on the other side. , and there are seven of us here, the captain thought of grabbing a few tongues, and others, including me, agreed."

"So we quickly adjusted our positions and continued to wait for the enemy to approach."

"Fortunately, we were well concealed. The advancing enemies did not find us, and gradually entered our siege."

"Then the captain gave an order, and we jumped out suddenly, each rushing towards the person closest to us."

"I held the short sword in my hand tightly, and stabbed fiercely at a person opposite. Obviously, he was frightened by our surprise attack, and he stood there dumbfounded, with his back turned Me, if everything is normal, I am very sure that I can stab him to the core."

Duke Dodge, Klein, and Lester held their breaths. They heard what the scouts meant, and what happened next was abnormal.

Sure enough, the scout said in an unbelievable tone:

"But something abnormal happened. The moment my dagger pierced his body, I suddenly felt as if I had stabbed an iron plate."

Klein asked, "Is the other party wearing armor?"

"No, my lord!"

The scout shook his head again and again, but accidentally touched the wound on his body, causing him to grin in pain.

"When they approached, we could see clearly. The other party didn't have any armor on them. They were indeed scouts. In order to make less noise when walking at night, they all wore ordinary clothes."

The Duke and the other three glanced at each other.

Klein guessed, "Maybe the other party is wearing a thin and delicate inner armor?"

But as soon as he said it, he felt his face burn.

Such a set of light, delicate inner armor that can be hidden under ordinary clothes without affecting movement in the slightest, and even able to withstand a full blow from a well-trained adult man... Beloved, this can be regarded as a piece of clothing for a nobleman. It is a family heirloom, how could it be possible for an ordinary scout to wear it and wander around the front line casually.

This is indeed an abnormal thing, the Duke asked solemnly: "And then?"

"Then…"

A look of bewilderment and fear appeared on the scout's face.

"Then the opponent staggered forward under my blow, I took the opportunity to glance around, and found that under our surprise attack, none of the enemy was fatally injured, oh... Maybe because of the night, I didn't Look clearly, but what they did next really didn't look like they were injured."

"We are very confident in our skills. Although we don't dare to compare with the adults, but where to stab, how to incapacitate the enemy without killing them, these are the skills that our scouts must master."

The duke asked: "That is to say, these five people... may all be wearing some kind of 'inner armor' inside?"

The Duke really couldn't figure out how the other party was so naked, so he had no choice but to continue with the possibility that Viscount Klein thought of just now.

"Uh... If there is such a so-called 'inner armor', then this must be the case."

With the knowledge of the scouts, I really don't know the various "high-tech" gadgets that the nobles spend money on and hire skilled craftsmen I can't help feeling: I still have a lot of knowledge, you adults, so it turns out that this is the case. one thing.

He went on:

"The opponent reacted very quickly. After being attacked by us, they immediately formed a defensive formation back to back, and we didn't care about continuing to marvel at their defense, and rushed forward again."

"Soon we discovered that our swords did not seem to cause any harm to their bodies, whether it was cutting or stabbing."

"The opponent's skill is about the same as ours, but it's just 'invulnerability' that can restrain us."

"After nearly 20 minutes of fierce fighting, almost all of us were injured, but the five of us seemed to be able to do their job with ease. Gradually, we fell into a disadvantage."

"Finally, three brothers fell to the ground. Seeing that the victory was hopeless, the captain sent us a signal to retreat...and he...stayed behind..."

"I…"

Having said this, the scout's face flushed.

"I turned around and ran away..."

His voice began to choke, and he seemed unable to speak.

Duke Dodge put his hands on his shoulders, "Your captain is a hero, and you did nothing wrong. It is the responsibility of your scouts to bring the information back. Don't have any psychological burden."

Tears welled up in the corners of the scout's eyes, "Did I come back alone last night? I remember that there were two other brothers who retreated together. At that time, I... just ran away..."

There was an uncomfortable silence, and no one answered his question.

The scout drooped his head, silently enduring this cruel reality.

Duke Dodge sighed, and said, "You take good care of your wounds. Only by surviving can you be worthy of the sacrificed brother."

He gestured to the other two, turned and walked outside.

Klein and Lester followed closely behind.