Light Cavalry Departure

After all the items were put into the system backpack, Ye Wei'an quickly checked his valuables:

Several sets of changeable formal wear and underwear appropriate to his status; a dark blue robe with silver runes embroidered on the cuffs, representing his status as a battle mage apprentice; a basic spellcaster's toolkit; a small bag of various spellcasting materials (sulfur, silver powder, bat guano, etc.); a crystal ball as a spell artifact; several spare charcoal pencils and parchment.

Several textbooks from the Battle Mage Academy—a book titled "Introduction to the Fundamentals of Magic Network and Perception Training (7th Edition)," a book titled "Practical Spell Construction: From Zero to Second Ring," a large-format book titled "An Introduction to the Eight Schools of Spells (Introductory Edition)," a three-volume set of "The Purple Dragon Kingdom: A Compendium of Common Magical Creatures and Countermeasures," as well as the original owner's notes and journals.

A few random books—one titled "Secrets Under the Wings of Griffins," another titled "The Zambian Way to Wealth: A Practical Handbook for Nobles," three books in the "Leatherman's Extraterrestrial Legends Series," and one titled "The Mage's Pets: From Selection to Raising."

Finally, there were some personal belongings and money: a silver lapel pin engraved with the simplified coat of arms of the Xia Xing family (representing his status as an illegitimate child, distinct from the official coat of arms), a pendant containing a miniature portrait of his mother, necessary toiletries, and a heavy leather purse containing 127 gold lion coins he had saved up over four years through frugality.

This amount of money seems like a lot at first glance, but it's rather meager for a spellcaster.

the reason is simple:

In Faerûn, there are countless ways to obtain gold: dwarves, gnomes, and even the drow elves of the Underdark continuously mine the precious metal from the earth. Not to mention the powerful high-ranking mages who occasionally "import" resources from the astral plane or the earth elemental plane.

The world's gold supply is far more abundant than in their home countries, which has greatly "diluted" the actual purchasing power of gold coins.

These hundred-odd gold coins might be enough for an ordinary family to buy some land in the countryside, but for a spellcaster, they might only be enough to buy one or two decent spell-casting gems.

The above probably covers most of Ye Weian's personal belongings. There may be some other things, but they are either kept at his home in Firefall Fortress or managed by Elaine. He doesn't know what they are.

With all these items combined, the backpack's weight limit only jumped to [18.7/140], leaving plenty of room.

On the other hand, after realizing that her master had a dimensional bag, Ellen became even more unceremonious when packing her luggage, taking out a large number of flashy but impractical outdoor equipment from the luggage carriage.

Luxury tents, thick carpets, portable stoves... Ye Wei'an even saw a complete set of silver tableware and porcelain plates.

She said that Lina had asked the guards to bring these to him, but he hadn't used them because he had been staying in hotels all the way and hadn't encountered any situations where he needed to camp.

These random things pushed the load to [103/140].

Seeing that there was still room, Ye Wei'an took Grumman's greatsword, the studded leather armor that only covered the lower body, and three bandit weapons from the spoils.

In his plan, all of these things would be useful.

Once they had finished packing, Knight Kane had also prepared the horses.

The team consisted of five people, including Ellen. With their armor and luggage, they would need at least seven horses to reach Firefall within two days.

Fortunately, they had captured many strong packhorses when they defeated the bandits, which came in handy now, so as not to affect the load and speed of the main force.

The accompanying personnel have also been arranged.

Two Lv.1 warriors stood solemnly to one side, leading their horses. When they saw Ye Weian approaching, they immediately straightened their backs, their eyes sparkling with excitement and eagerness.

"Young master," Kane introduced, "this is Harold, a good archer and also a skilled swordsman. This is Raine, a master of the battle axe, with outstanding stamina. Both are fine young men."

"Young Master Ye Wei'an!" the burly man named Harold said in a loud voice, "Rest assured, with us here, we will never let those scum hiding in the shadows touch a hair on your head again!"

"We swear to protect your safety with our lives!" Renn echoed in a deep voice.

Kane lowered his voice again and said, "Young Master, we've just been through a fierce battle, and now we're suddenly splitting up. Some of the brothers don't quite understand; they have doubts... Anyway, before we set off, perhaps you could say a few words to everyone?"

Ye Wei'an pondered for a moment, then nodded.

He walked up to the crowd, and all the guards—whether they stayed behind or were about to depart—stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him.

"Before we embark on the path of revenge, there is one thing we must accomplish." His voice was not loud, but it carried clearly to everyone's ears. "Let us first observe three minutes of silence for the three brothers who died in battle today."

After speaking, he lowered his head first, placing his right hand on his chest.

Knight Kane also stood at attention and bowed his head. Then, all the guards, regardless of the severity of their injuries, put down what they were doing, took off their helmets or hats, and silently lowered their heads.

For a full three minutes, only the rustling of the wind through the leaves could be heard in the forest, as if the Earth Mother (Shentia) was sighing for her lost offspring.

After the moment of silence ended, Ye Wei'an raised his head and looked at everyone's faces.

"Through the interrogation of the bandit leader, I obtained a truth that would shame the gods: this attack was not a result of the bandits' greed—someone bribed them and plotted to kill us!"

The revelation of this truth caused a huge uproar among the guards.

The soldiers initially thought it was just bad luck, but upon hearing the news, they were first stunned, and then their eyes burned with anger.

Ye Wei'an looked around and nodded slightly. The morale of the troops was good.

"The reason we split up is not to abandon our comrades. On the contrary, it's to find the scoundrel behind this murder-for-hire who killed our brother as quickly as possible!"

He stepped forward, his voice suddenly rising: "Their blood will not have been shed in vain. I, Yevian Xia Xing, in the name of Xia Xing, promise: I will drag the masterminds behind this conspiracy out of the shadows and make them pay the price! I will not keep the spoils of this operation for myself; you will all receive your share. The families of the victims will receive compensation sufficient to live a stable life. My wounded and disabled brothers—the Eye of Heim can bear witness—as long as I have a bite to eat, I will never let you be left to wander the streets!"

Ye Wei'an finished speaking.

After a brief silence, excited discussions erupted within the guard group:

"Long live Young Master Ye Wei'an!"

"Did you hear that? Young Master is going to get justice for us!"

"The dawn of Los Santos, in all these years I've followed the Baron, I've never heard such a sincere promise..."

"Compared to that arrogant young master in the castle, this is the true Lord Xia Xing!"

The two chosen warriors straightened their backs even more, and Harold patted his chest forcefully: "Young Master, give the order!"

Renn nodded heavily, his eyes fierce.

Those guards who were not selected looked regretful, wishing they could have joined the advance team.

Seeing the scene before him, Ye Wei'an felt a slight sense of emotion.

Neither my past self nor the original owner of this body could deliver such a powerful and inspiring speech.

The effectiveness of this speech was not entirely due to the prestige he had built up by turning the tide of the battle.

He could feel the blood energy flowing within him pulsating slightly with his words—his charm attribute of 18 points gave him an almost supernatural infectiousness.

He believed that once he accomplished this task, he would no longer be seen as a "strange illegitimate son" by these low-ranking soldiers, but as a descendant of Xia Xing whom they could entrust their lives to.

At this moment, Ye Wei'an was sincerely glad that he had chosen the Warlock who focused on Charisma instead of the Mage who focused on Intelligence.

Seeing that morale was good, Knight Kane stepped forward last and carefully instructed his lieutenant, who was left behind, on the matters of guarding the convoy, the wounded, and the prisoners.

With everything arranged, he turned to Ye Weian: "Young Master, we can set off now."

Ye Wei'an nodded and walked towards his mount, only to find Ai Lian looking somewhat lost at the tall horse in front of her.

"Young master, I can't climb up," she whispered, a blush of embarrassment spreading across her face.

"Come here." Ye Wei'an reached out and put his arm around Ai Lian's soft waist. With a little effort, he lifted her onto the front of the saddle. Then he nimbly mounted the horse himself and sat behind her. The girl's soft body naturally leaned into his arms.

By the standards of my past life, this position was far too intimate; only couples would do that.

But Ellen had no qualms whatsoever. She even adjusted her posture, leaning closer to Ye Weian and resting her head on the man's chin.

"I'm seated, young master."

Oh, the evil old society...

Ye Wei'an suppressed his secret delight and reached out to grasp the reins.

"Let's go, knight."

"Let's go!" Kane took the lead, setting off on the road to Firefall.