Chapter 1072: Bait

“Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Gauss. If you weren’t here, Warren Castle would truly be facing a crisis of life and death,” Baron Valentine said. Hearing Gauss’s reminder, he forced himself to focus and managed a strained smile.

The myriad of frustrating issues both inside and outside the city these past few days had made the already gloomy middle-aged noble even more sullen. Only when interacting with Gauss did he try his utmost to rein in his temper and appear as amiable as possible.

Upon arriving at the city wall, the flow of people became much denser.

The buildings near the wall had been temporarily requisitioned as living quarters for the garrison members, while some areas were converted into stables and supply stockpiles. The relief guards were patrolling the wall. The main defense force was primarily composed of Gauss’s Red Dragon Team. Although the city’s militia, city guards, and other freelance adventurers outnumbered the members of the Red Dragon Team, their quality was leagues apart.

While the other local forces might not even have one Professional among every ten men, nearly every single member of the Red Dragon Team was one. As for high-end combat power, the disparity was even more staggering.

In the entirety of Warren Castle, there were only three theoretical Master Level combatants: Baron Valentine himself, the president of the Adventurer’s Guild, Finch, and one of the Baron’s confidants—an old knight named Ferguson who had served their family since his father’s era.

According to Gauss’s observations, it was somewhat ironic that the oldest of the three, the gray-haired old knight, was perhaps the most worthy of the title. Though he looked aged, his physique was exceptionally robust, and he had never neglected his daily training. This allowed him to seamlessly transition back into the role of a Warrior when he heard the news of the war, donning his knight’s armor and leaving his peaceful retirement behind.

This also proved that for Professionals, time didn’t always dictate everything. Relentless training and hard work were the true keys to determining whether someone was just a flashy fraud or the real deal.

Aside from these three, the remaining few local “high-end” combatants were merely Manorial Knights loyal to the Baron, with Profession levels hovering between four and five. As for the other freelance adventurers in the city, their skill levels were even more uneven. The vast majority were Levelless Adventurers, and the few Elite Professionals were stuck around levels one to three.

This was actually quite understandable; it was the norm for adventurers in small towns. Adventurers with any ambition would head to larger towns or cities. Only there could they find teammates, resources, and mentors suited to their strength. If they stayed in a small town forever, their abilities would easily stagnate.

After taking stock of the available defensive forces in the city, Gauss immediately abandoned the idea of giving partial command authority to the locals. Instead, he chose to take full control of the city’s defense and all war-related decisions.

They were simply too weak. He wondered how they could possibly manage the city’s defense with this group of out-of-shape nobles and local officials.

As for Gauss “overstepping his bounds” and single-handedly taking charge of all defensive matters, the others had no choice but to follow his lead. The local Lord, Baron Valentine, was not angry but rather delighted, ordering his subordinates to fully cooperate with the actions of Gauss’s Red Dragon Team. In times of war and turmoil, the authority of personal strength would always overshadow the status granted by bloodline and birthright.

“Lord Gauss! Lord Baron!”

“Get back to work.”

Whenever freelance adventurers walked past and saw the two of them, they would always greet Gauss first. This order of greeting wasn’t random; it was highly deliberate. Addressing the person of highest status first was an unspoken rule.

Of course, if they were local soldiers, they might choose to address them simply as “My Lords” to avoid any perceived slight. But this indirectly showed that, at least for this moment, the vast majority of people had elevated Gauss’s importance above that of their own Lord.

Gauss had been rapidly racking up prestige these past few days. After all, this was a war that involved the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people. Everyone understood that their ability to safely survive this conflict depended entirely on Gauss and his Red Dragon Team. Every powerful adventurer sung about in historical tales had gone through this exact process. Their deeds would be passed down for generations through the idle chatter of local residents, eventually turning them into household names and regional heroes.

The Baron accompanied Gauss on a symbolic patrol before quickly returning to the Inner Castle.

This was Gauss’s first time taking over the defense of a region as the primary commander, which brought him a bit of pressure. Fortunately, the Red Dragon Team had more than enough personnel to assist him. Deploying personnel, breaking up the outsiders and integrating them into the Red Dragon Team’s squads and companies, plugging gaps in the defenses, and inventorying war supplies—although Gauss was a novice “chief commander,” all the work was proceeding in an orderly manner.

Seeing this, old knight Ferguson, who had prepared to assist him from the sidelines, didn’t utter a word of advice. He merely nodded repeatedly in gratification.

“Sir Ferguson, you truly are as strong as ever.” Gauss couldn’t help but praise the gray-haired old knight as he watched him draw his bow and cleanly shoot down a large bat circling in the sky.

“I’m just embarrassing myself in front of you, Mr. Commander,” the old man replied, though a hint of joy still flashed across his face. Praise from a powerhouse like Gauss was the best reward for his diligent training over the past thirty years, even after retiring from the front lines.

At his age, his desire for wealth and fame had grown very faint. Only his identity as a Professional kept him clinging to a slight obsession with personal strength. However, people would inevitably grow old.