Such a Difference Between Nobles 

After changing into a fresh set of clothes, Ard did not neglect to put the weighted gear back on.

The little girl was still unconscious, so he couldn’t ask where she was from. He had no choice but to take her with them. In any case, with her small legs, she couldn’t have run too far from her home. They would likely reach her village soon.

However, due to Ard’s pathetic pace, they had been walking for half a day and had still not reached her village, even after the girl had woken up.

Seeing her awake, Ard was about to go over and ask about her family, but the moment he approached, the delicate-looking little girl yelped, scrambled down from the drake, and scurried to hide behind Yexi. She peeked her little head out, her eyes wide with fear as she looked at him.

Ard was at a loss, unsure what he had done wrong.

Yexi chuckled softly. “Now you see the consequences of being a blood-soaked butcher, don’t you?”

Ard: “…”

Her words made him understand. Although his intention had been to save the little girl, the excessively bloody process had clearly left her traumatized. Ard was filled with regret, he had been too rash. After gaining a measure of power, he had been a bit intoxicated by it, focused only on venting his frustrations, and had totally forgotten to consider the other details. His intention had been to save a life, but in the heat of the slaughter, he had cast away his original purpose, nearly allowing the person he was trying to save to be taken hostage, and had ended up being seen as a bloodthirsty demon. 

Seeing the girl was still terrified of him, Ard could only hold up his hands in surrender. “Alright, you ask her then.”

Yexi nodded. She led the little girl out from behind her, knelt down, and asked gently, “What’s your name?”

The little girl replied timidly, “My name is Little Cora.”

“And where are you from, Little Cora?”

“I… I ran out from my village. I was just gathering herbs, and… and…” The little girl’s eyes filled with tears again.

Yexi flicked the girl’s forehead lightly. “No crying. Where is your village?”

“Ow.” The girl stopped crying and looked at the serious-faced big sister before her with a wronged expression. She answered obediently, “Just follow this road straight ahead, and then take the Blue River path.”

“Should we take her back?” Yexi turned and asked Ard a question that, to any normal person, had an obvious answer.

Ard, being a normal person, replied, “We’ve come this far. Of course we have to take her back.”

“Then let’s take her back.” Yexi lifted the little girl back onto the drake and started leading the two beasts forward.

On the way, as the little girl’s emotions gradually calmed, she began to study the pretty big sister and the scary big brother who had saved her. The big sister was very beautiful, the most beautiful lady she had ever seen, but she seemed so cold. The big brother, though he had been terrifying earlier, seemed nice to her. But he walked so slowly, and he looked like he was having a hard time. Was he injured while saving her?

Yexi completely ignored the girl’s gaze. Ard, however, noticed and gave her a friendly smile. “Don’t be afraid. You’re safe now. By the way, are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?”

Little Cora replied shyly, “Thank you, big brother. I’m not hungry.”

Having finally recovered from her terror, she knew that although Ard had been frightening, he was still her savior, and she shouldn’t be so impolite. She gathered her courage and asked, “Big brother, are you hurt?”

Ard looked down at himself, puzzled. “No, why do you ask?”

Little Cora hesitated. “Because… you walk so slowly, big brother. Even slower than me when I’m tired.”

Ard: “…”

Yexi let out a small snort of laughter, which only confused Little Cora more.

Ard shot a sideways glance at the gloating Yexi, and a mischievous thought came to him. He said with a wry smile, “I can’t help it, little one. I don’t want to be like this. But your big sister Yexi is just… too much. She works me to the bone, day and night. I can barely get out of bed in the morning. Saving you just now was the result of a final burst of manly vigor.”

Little Cora was still a pure, innocent little girl and didn’t understand the subtext of his words. She could only reply, half-understanding, “Is that so? Does big sister Yexi always work you so hard, big brother? That doesn’t seem very nice. Big sister, you shouldn’t torment him so much at night. It will leave him with no energy to work during the day.”

The innocent words of a child are often the most cutting. Yexi now understood the meaning of that phrase. What could she do? Argue with a ten-year-old girl? She could only shoot Ard a dark, murderous glare. 

“So you’re saying you’ll never be able to get it up again? Do you want me to help you cut off that useless organ? To save you the nutrients.”

“Ahem, no need! I feel it can still be roused!” Ard quickly changed the subject, turning to the little girl. “Little Cora, how did you run into those bandits? Is the security around here not very good?”

“I… I just went out to gather some herbs for my mother’s illness, and I ran into them on my way back. Then some of them started chasing me, so I ran. They’re always around. I heard my mother and the others say that these bad men have been here for several years, and they often attack our village. Not just our village, but other villages are often harassed too.”

Ard frowned. “I thought the local lord would send troops to deal with something like this.”

Little Cora pouted, her voice low. “The lord doesn’t care about us.”

“Why not?” Ard asked, puzzled.

“Because we can’t afford the protection fee,” Little Cora said, her voice full of grievance. “The protection fee the lord demands… the savings of our entire village put together isn’t enough to pay for one month.”

“Protection fee?! Not taxes?”

“No. The lord’s taxes are also very high. After we pay them, we have no money left.”

“…” Ard couldn’t help but complain, “How is this a lord? Is he a street thug? Who is your lord?”

“I think everyone calls him Baron Quentin.”

“Quentin… that name sounds familiar,” Ard murmured, then it hit him. “The infamous Baron Paunch! My apologies. If it’s that bastard, then he’s definitely capable of such inhuman acts.”

Baron Quentin was a notorious miser even in his past life, a man who valued money above all else. Before the kingdom fell, he had already caused a great deal of public resentment for his rampant extortion. But he had only ever exploited his own territory, and he had connections in high places. Without enough evidence to bring him down, he had remained in power until the eve of the kingdom’s collapse, when chaos erupted everywhere. The wealthy Baron Paunch had the money but not the means to protect it, and was eventually killed and robbed by a more ruthless enemy. That enemy had been so brutal and brazen in his robbery that people had talked about it for years afterwards. Even now, Ard still remembered the locations of several of the Baron’s legendary fortunes.

Ard sighed. They were both nobles, and neighbors at that. Marquis Trefle’s rank was even higher than his. How could the difference between them be so vast? In the Trefle domain, not only were there no bandits, but even brawls were rare. The residents lived peaceful, comfortable lives, and any disputes or robberies were promptly reported and dealt with by the authorities. But Baron Quentin’s territory was the complete opposite. As long as there was money to be made, he would turn a blind eye to all sorts of criminal activity.

Ard felt a deep sympathy for the residents of his territory. They couldn’t even leave. All residents of a domain were registered. While a short visit to another territory was fine, long-term residence required a transfer of household registration, which was a complicated process. And if another lord were to grant them registration without permission, it would be a considerable offense. Baron Paunch would be delighted. He wouldn’t dare to offend the powerful, but for those he could bully, he would extort them until they were bled dry. And he was certainly not foolish enough to let his own territory become a wasteland. So if you wanted to leave, sorry, have you paid the fee? He didn’t care about your reasons; he only cared about money. The already impoverished villagers had no choice but to endure his exploitation.

“What is this…”

As Ard was lost in thought, Yexi suddenly let out a sound of surprise.

Ard looked up and saw they had arrived in a valley. On both sides were steep cliffs, with only a narrow path between them. A small river flowed through the valley. This must be the Blue River Little Cora had mentioned. The water was a clear, brilliant blue, so transparent you could see the fish swimming freely at the bottom.

But Ard noticed that Yexi was not marveling at the beautiful river, but at the “weeds” that grew in abundance throughout the valley, almost covering the path.

“What is it, Yexi?” he asked, puzzled.

Yexi pointed at the “weeds.” “I never thought I’d see these here, and growing so densely.”

“Big brother, big sister, we can’t stay here for too long! The Lake Spirit will steal your soul!” Little Cora suddenly cried out nervously, making both Ard and Yexi turn to look at her.

As Ard was wondering what a “Lake Spirit” was, Yexi chuckled softly. “She’s right. We can’t stay here for long. Let’s go.”

Amidst Ard’s confusion, they left the area without any further delay.

Not long after they had left the valley, they saw a troop of knights charging toward them. Ard looked at them and was impressed by their fine armor, their powerful mounts, and their resolute expressions. They seemed to be on par with the soldiers he had seen at the Marquis’s estate. They were definitely not a force that the likes of Baron Paunch would possess. That miser would never spend his money on something like this.

As Ard was wondering about the knights’ origins, they approached them. The leading captain looked at Little Cora on the drake’s back, then dismounted. “Greetings. We are helping a nearby village search for a lost girl. Might this be Little Cora on the drake’s back?”

Ard was stunned. He turned to Little Cora. “Do you know them?”

Little Cora shook her head, confused.

Seeing this, the captain knew he had found his target and breathed a sigh of relief. “We were ordered by His Highness to find this girl. We mean her no harm. Her mother requested His Highness’s help.”