Chapter 37: 36 chapters: Martial Law
Rein, who was in another servant's dormitory, woke up immediately after George shouted that alert.
He heard clearly that, besides screaming for help, George also cried out the words 'monster.'
Without hesitation, Rein shook George awake and instructed him to wake everyone else.
Rein himself quickly went to the door and looked outside.
Just as he found it strange that there was no movement from the dormitory across from them, a five-man manor patrol headed briskly toward the opposite dormitory.
The next second, Rein's heart clenched violently!
His scalp tingled, and his pupils contracted!
Before his eyes, a massive shadow burst out from the opposite dormitory, shattering the door into fragments that instantly covered the few guards like a torrential downpour.
As the guards raised their hands to shield themselves, two of them were sent flying.
Without pausing!
This enormous humanoid shadow, carrying a skinny, shirtless servant boy, quickly leaped over the fence.
Judging by its speed, it was definitely faster than Bolt's hundred-meter sprint that Rein had seen in his previous life!
Under the moonlight, Rein could vaguely see the strong build of the creature, its hyena-like ugly face, and its thick, hairy arms.
"What... what is this monster?" Rein was shocked.
A sense of crisis filled his heart immediately!
In Rein's mind, with his professional panel, as long as he 'grinded' slowly and progressed step by step, he would eventually reach the peak in this world.
But the scene before him snapped him back to reality.
Sometimes, even if he did not seek danger, danger might actively seek him out!
If that monster had chosen their servant's dormitory, could they only rely on luck and sit waiting for death?
No!
Never!
He needed to double his efforts!
Rein's face was as still as water, but his heart was churning.
...
Soon, the Habsburg manor was in turmoil, and noise erupted everywhere.
Guards rushed over from all directions. One after another, guards wearing nose-guard helmets, chain mail, and carrying sword-shields or spear-shields arrived.
"Woof, woof, woof!"
Some guards also brought greyhounds, relying on the dogs' keen sense of smell and the tracks on the ground; the guards quickly determined the direction and traces of the fleeing monster.
Yet the guards still did not release the dogs to track it down, seemingly waiting for someone.
Rein and the other servants had already walked out and were standing from a distance, looking at the cordoned dormitory opposite them, at the pale-faced servants who were either vomiting or sobbing, and couldn't help feeling empathetic.
If it weren't for the protection of the goddess of fortune from the unknown, if the monster had chosen their servant's dormitory to hunt in...
The terrible consequences made George and the other servants shudder with fear!
After a while, a towering figure clad in solid plate armor and a black cloak came over, and the guards saluted, "Lord Lloyd!"
The middle-aged man with a commanding presence was none other than Sir Lloyd, the steward and Knight of the Habsburg Manor.
"What's the situation?"
The arrival of Sir Lloyd immediately brought order to what had previously been a somewhat chaotic scene.
Such was the deterrent power of a true Knight's Transcendent Strength, which quickly stabilized people's hearts.
"Two servant boys are dead, and one is missing, likely abducted!"
"According to the descriptions from the manor's patrol guards and the huge footprints left on the ground, it appears that the attacker of the servant boys was a rogue werewolf-like creature, immensely large and powerful, far more so than an ordinary werewolf," reported a guard who looked like a squad leader.
"Take me to the scene." The Knight with golden hair and a goatee, Sir Lloyd, said in a deep voice after hearing the report from the guard.
"At once, my lord!"
Two chainmail-clad guards led the way as the group made their way to the servant boys' dormitory where Humbert and the others resided.
The dormitory's door had been utterly demolished, leaving a gaping hole nearly three meters high and over two meters wide. The surrounding wooden boards were shattered into jagged splinters. According to the guards' account, the werewolf-like creature had simply smashed through the door. The level of strength required…
Sir Lloyd couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
"Sir Lloyd, this must be an exceedingly rare and aggressive werewolf-like creature!"
A deep male voice sounded from behind Sir Lloyd; it was none other than Sir Perez, the Knight Instructor of the noble scions at Meister County.
"Lord Perez!" the guards saluted him.
"Sir Perez, do you have any suggestions?" Sir Lloyd asked, turning to Perez.
"The forest at night is not our domain. I suggest we bolster the manor's night-time defenses and at daybreak, contact the new chief of security of Flashgold Town, Sir Hamilton, and organize a team to search together."
Unexpectedly, Perez, although looked imposing, suggested a highly cautious approach.
Indeed, battling a ferocious werewolf-like creature in the woods at night was a daunting prospect, even for a Knight who had stepped into the realm of the Transcendent.
More critically, the night-time forest was not the domain of humans. One might encounter creatures more terrifying than a ferocious transformed werewolf, which could lead not only to a failed hunt but also to significant casualties.
After a brief consideration, Sir Lloyd nodded in agreement and turned to a Messenger beside him, "Increase the guard, especially around the servants' quarters, the stables, and animal pens."
"Also, send someone immediately to Flashgold Town to notify them about the encounter with the ferocious werewolf-like creature."
"The creature may not return here, but the possibility of it heading to Flashgold Town in search of food is not negligible. They should be prepared."
"As you command, Lord Lloyd!" After saluting, the Messenger quickly mounted a horse and left the manor.
While Rein and George listened intently to the conversation between Sir Lloyd and Lord Perez from a distance, Humbert, also dressed in chainmail and a swordsmanship instructor for servant boys, hurried over to them and said:
"The servant boy training is suspended. You will all follow me and return to Flashgold Town immediately."
This left George and the other servant boys exchanging puzzled glances, but Rein, after a moment's thought, understood why Sir Lloyd had made this decision.
In the wake of the manor being attacked by a ferocious transformed werewolf, keeping a large number of servant boys there, before the danger was resolved, would only increase the pressure on Habsburg Manor.
If a large number of servant boys were to be killed or injured, Sir Lloyd, as the principal person in charge of the manor, could not escape responsibility!
Even as a Knight, he would face accountability from the nobles above him.
Therefore, the best course of action was naturally to send the servant boys home.
For the unfortunate servant boys who had died, arrangements needed to be made to compensate and console their families, minimizing the impact.
Under the escort of Humbert and several other guards, the group of servant boys made their way back to Flashgold Town amidst the cover of night.