117: Chapter 117 Your misfortune will be my asset

Fleeing for their lives?

The phrase was like a cold needle, instantly puncturing all the commercial blueprints for the "Royal Visit" in Levi's mind.

Profit, marketing, long-term investment... these beautiful terms seemed pale and laughable in the face of the cruel reality of "fleeing for one's life."

He rushed to the window and pushed it open. A cold evening wind rushed in, carrying the faint sound of galloping hooves and shouting from the distance.

On the horizon, the setting sun was painting its final afterglow across the wasteland, casting long shadows.

The silhouette of a group was frantically dancing within those shadows, like a swarm of ants chased by a wildfire.

There were no banners, no formations—only chaos and speed.

Several heavy carriages were being driven desperately by knights, their wheels kicking up clouds of dust on the bumpy ground as if some invisible beast were chasing them from behind.

"My Lord!" Sir Kaelan arrived upon hearing the news. He hadn't even had time to change out of his training armor. His tall frame blocked most of the doorway, his face filled with the solemnity characteristic of a soldier.

Levi didn't look back, his gaze still locked onto the chaotic scene in the distance.

"Director Kaelan, gather all your men. Now, immediately." His voice was exceptionally calm, without a hint of panic, as if he were issuing a routine training command.

"Yes! Should I lead the charge? I'll twist the heads off those pursuers!" A fighting spirit ignited in Kaelan's eyes. The frustration of training the honor guard earlier finally found an outlet.

"No," Levi countered decisively. He finally turned around, his black pupils reflecting the blood-red sunset outside, shimmering with a nearly cold shrewdness. "Your mission isn't to fight; it's 'asset preservation'."

"Asset... preservation?" Ka—Kaelan was once again dazed by this unfamiliar terminology.

"Listen to my orders clearly." Levi didn't speak fast, but every word hit Kaelan's nerves like a hammer.

"First, ensure the absolute safety of Princess Ella Radiance herself at all costs. She is the core asset and must not suffer any damage."

He held up a second finger: "Second, while ensuring the Princess's safety, do everything in your power to salvage everything that looks valuable. Carriages, cargo, armor, warhorses... even those knights. Remember, it's 'salvage', not 'rescue'. I want results, not ethereal honor."

Finally, he raised a third finger, his tone turning even colder: "Third, and most importantly: assess the strength of the pursuers. If they are a rabble you can easily handle, wipe them out, but remember to leave a few survivors. If they are a tough nut to crack, drive them away; do not get bogged down in a fight with them. Our goal is to move the 'goods' safely into the warehouse, not to fight to the death with the bandits delivering them. Understood?"

Kaelan pursed his lips tightly. He instinctively felt repulsed by this way of viewing war as a commercial transaction, but he had to admit that given the current uncertainty regarding the enemy, these instructions were clear, pragmatic, and minimized risk.

He nodded heavily, his breastplate letting out a dull thud. "Understood!"

"Go." Levi waved his hand. "Evelyn, notify all units to initiate Level One Alert. Clear the castle gates. Have the medical and logistics teams standby in the inner city square. Prepare to receive our 'guests'."

"By your command, My Lord." Evelyn turned and left, her pace remaining steady as if what was coming wasn't a life-and-death pursuit, but a batch of rush orders that needed warehousing.

The castle's drawbridge lowered with a boom. Sir Kaelan led his guard—who had just been practicing marching—out of the city gates like a black iron arrow.

They might not have been used to Levi's talk of "cost" and "efficiency," but they were well-trained warriors to their core.

When a real crisis descended, that suppressed killing intent erupted instantly, merging into a terrifying torrent that surged toward the bedraggled Royal convoy.

Levi stood on the city wall, the evening wind fluttering his robes.

He squinted his eyes like an experienced appraiser, calmly evaluating the quality of this batch of "emergency inventory" assets.

The appearance of the Blackstone Territory guards clearly served as a massive deterrent to the pursuers.

The distant enemies hesitated briefly before retreating like a tide, vanishing into the deepening twilight of the wasteland.

Kaelan did not pursue, faithfully executing Levi's orders. He quickly secured the scene, gathered the surviving convoy personnel for protection, and slowly moved toward the castle.

When the convoy finally came to a halt in the inner city square, a pungent smell of blood and charring wafted over.

Levi walked down from the wall and stepped slowly into the square.

The scene before him was even more tragic than it had appeared from afar.

Several carriages had arrows sticking out of their sides, and sword gashes marked the walls of the vehicles.

The surviving knights were all wounded. The Royal-issue armor they wore had long since lost its former luster, covered in mud and clotted blood.

The groans of the wounded and the busy shouts of the medical staff intertwined, making the atmosphere in the square heavy to the extreme.

Surrounded by a group of guards, the door of a luxurious carriage—gilded all over but currently looking quite bedraggled—was opened.

A young woman dressed in riding gear stepped down, supported by a maidservant.

She had brilliant hair that looked like molten gold; though it was somewhat disheveled now, it remained dazzling.

Her face was as exquisite as a deity's finest sculpture, though her pale complexion and tightly pursed lips marred that perfection.

Despite the dust on her dress and a tear in her expensive sleeve, she still strove to keep her back straight. In her azure eyes burned a fire of unyielding pride.

She was undoubtedly Ella Radiance, the Seventh Princess of the Radiant Empire.

Ella's gaze swept quickly across the chaotic square, eventually locking onto Levi, who was surrounded by the crowd at the center.

She took a deep breath and, maintaining an elegant stride, walked straight toward him.

"Are you Levi Byron?" Her voice was cool, carrying an innate, unquestionable sense of authority.

Even in danger, she was still the high-and-mighty Princess.

Levi bowed slightly, performing a flawless noble salute. "Byron has been waiting for Your Highness for a long time. I simply did not expect such a unique welcoming ceremony."

His tone was calm, showing no hint of sympathy or surprise, as if he were stating a fact that had nothing to do with him.

Ella's brow furrowed imperceptibly, clearly dissatisfied with Levi's excessively calm attitude.

She suppressed her displeasure and ordered directly, "Baron Levi, I command you to immediately assemble all your soldiers and pursue those damned bandits! They attacked the Empire's convoy and slaughtered my knights; this is the gravest provocation to the Radiant Empire! I want you to bring back their heads to avenge my fallen warriors!"

Her voice was powerful and resonant, filled with an authority that brooked no refusal.

In her view, since she had deigned to come to this remote territory, it was only natural for the lord to serve her.

However, Levi did not immediately accept the command as she had expected.

He didn't even change his expression. He simply turned his head and said to Evelyn beside him, "Bring the writing board."

Evelyn silently handed over a wooden board clipped with parchment and a charcoal pencil.

Ella wondered what he meant by this. Was he ignoring her orders?

Levi ignored her anger and instead turned the writing board toward the knight captain escorting the Princess, a man with a fresh wound on his face who was still panting heavily.

"Sir Knight," Levi's tone was like that of a warehouse manager checking inventory, "I need your men to immediately count and confirm the following data. First, the total number of survivors, categorized into knights, squires, and servants. Second, the number of wounded, graded by severe or light injuries. Third, a detailed list of all lost materials, including but not limited to horses, vehicles, weapons, grain, and personal property. Fourth, a detailed list of all salvaged materials. Please complete this as soon as possible; our medical and logistics resources will be allocated based on this list."

These words were not just for the knight captain, but also for Ella's ears.

"You!" Ella Radiance's face flushed red instantly. She felt she had been subjected to an unprecedented insult.

While her knights had just undergone a bloody battle and their bodies were not yet cold, this fiancé—this subject—wasn't concerned with avenging her or soothing her emotions. Instead, like a greedy merchant, he was in a hurry to tally the losses and residual value!

This was utter indifference, a cold objectification of human life and dignity.

"Levi Byron!" She practically spat his name through gritted teeth. "My knights are bleeding! Yet you are here haggling over these irrelevant numbers?"

"Princess," Levi finally turned his gaze back to her. Those pitch-black eyes were as calm as water, yet possessed a piercing quality that made it impossible to look away. "To me, nothing is more important than numbers. A casualty is not a sad story here; it is a cost item—how many bandages, how much medicine, and how much manpower is required for care. If I don't count clearly, my territory might fall into chaos or even bankruptcy because of your unfortunate accident. My people would also go hungry because of my poor decision-making. So, please cooperate with my work. This is for your own good, and for mine."

After speaking, he stopped looking at her and turned away to begin personally directing the guard's cleanup efforts.

E—Ella was pinned to the spot by his cold, heartless words, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.

In all her years, no one had ever dared to speak to her in such a tone.

She felt as though she hadn't come to a vassal's territory, but had stumbled into a cold pawnshop that only recognized money.

And she, along with her poor knights and broken convoy, was merely collateral placed on the counter, waiting to be appraised.

Anger, humiliation, and a never-before-felt sense of powerlessness submerged her like a tide.

Evelyn's efficiency was terrifyingly high.

Under her direction, an assessment team composed of clerks and logistics personnel quickly took over the scene.

Armed with measuring tapes and checklists, they meticulously inspected every carriage, counted every survivor, and even recorded every arrow and piece of damaged armor on the ground.

Half an hour later, a preliminary assessment report was delivered to Levi's hands.

"My Lord," Evelyn's voice was very low, "The Royal Knights had a complement of one hundred and twenty. Forty-two are confirmed dead, nineteen are severely wounded, and the rest are all injured. There were thirty-four carriages in the convoy; twenty-one are lost or destroyed. Most conventional supplies like grain, cloth, and luxury goods are gone. However..." She paused, a faint light flashing in her ice-blue eyes, "Five of the most structurally sound and heavily protected heavy freight wagons were salvaged intact. The cargo inside... is currently unknown, but judging by the depth of the ruts and the tightness of the security, it is of extremely high value."

Levi nodded. This was close to what he had expected.

What was lost was unimportant; the core assets had been preserved.

"What about the pursuers?"

"Director Kaelan brought back a survivor," Evelyn added. "A fellow who accidentally fell off his horse during the retreat. The patrol picked him up at the edge of the battlefield."

Very good.

A barely visible curve formed at the corner of Levi's mouth.

Holding the loss report filled with cold numbers, he turned and walked toward Princess Ella, who had been temporarily placed in the main castle's drawing room.

Ella was sitting by the fireplace, a soft blanket draped over her, but her face remained pale.

Seeing Levi enter, she merely gave a cold snort and turned her head away.

Levi didn't mind. He sat down in the chair opposite her and placed the parchment report on the coffee table between them.

"Princess, here is the list of your losses. Please look it over."

Ella didn't even glance at the report.

"Additionally, I have some unfortunate news for you," Levi continued in his steady, emotionless tone. "We captured one of the attackers. According to his preliminary confession, those who attacked you were no mere bandits."

This sentence finally made Ella turn her head, her azure eyes carrying a hint of alertness. "Who are they?"

Levi pushed another piece of parchment forward, which had an agreement written on it in concise language.

"Princess, before answering that question, I hope we can first reach a consensus."

Ella picked up the agreement. With just one look, the hand holding the parchment began to tremble violently with rage.

The contents of the agreement were blunt to the point of being rude: Blackstone Territory would provide the highest level of security for the Princess's party; Blackstone Territory would be responsible for interrogating the prisoner and using its entire intelligence network to investigate the mastermind behind the attack.

In exchange, Ella Radiance had to temporarily transfer command of the eighty surviving Royal Knights to Lord Levi Byron; meanwhile, ownership of those five intact wagons of cargo would go to Blackstone Territory as a down payment for this "security and investigation service."

"You... you are looting a burning house!" Ella's voice rose in anger. She stood up abruptly and slammed the agreement into Levi's face. "You despicable, shameless merchant! You don't have a shred of noble honor!"

The parchment fluttered to the floor.

Levi's expression didn't change. He didn't even wipe his cheek where the edge of the paper had grazed it. He just looked up at her calmly and said word for word, "Princess, honor cannot fill my soldiers' stomachs, nor can it pay for the risks they take to protect you. I am providing 'security,' which is the most expensive commodity in the world today. And you happen to be the client who needs it most right now. You can certainly choose to refuse and leave my castle with your people. But I cannot guarantee that you will survive the next night in this wasteland."

Ella's chest heaved violently. She glared at Levi, but couldn't utter a single word of rebuttal.

What he said was the truth.

Without the protection of this castle, she and her subordinates were just lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

Humiliation—unprecedented humiliation.

She had never imagined that one day she would fall to such a state, forced into a corner by a minor border lord using the most naked exchange of interests.

Just as she was caught in a struggle of internal conflict, the door to the drawing room was knocked on urgently.

Evelyn walked in quickly. For the first time, her face bore an expression that could be called "serious."

She bypassed Ella and handed a new piece of intelligence directly to Levi.

"My Lord, the interrogation has had a breakthrough."

Levi unfurled the scrawled note, his gaze sweeping across it rapidly.

His eyebrows twitched slightly, and a playful expression finally appeared on his face.

He looked up at Ella and handed the note over.

"It seems we need to reach an agreement as soon as possible, Princess. Because according to the latest intelligence, this 'client' of yours doesn't seem to want you to reach your destination alive."

Ella hesitantly took the note. When her eyes fell on the name circled in blood-red ink, the color drained from her beautiful face instantly, and her pupils constricted in shock.

There was only one name on the paper: Valerius, Lord of Silvermoon City.