Chapter 440

Chapter 440

"Mr. Black Crow, that’s not quite right!"

Before Lorant could say anything, a young-looking boy next to Vanessa spoke up to Black Crow, "This isn’t the time for leisure."

"It’s the day we’re expanding the Black Forest! It’s nothing like an ordinary day. We don’t have time to waste."

"If this were any other time, I wouldn’t object, but now the situation is special. Where would we find the time?" The young-looking practitioner spoke with righteous indignation, "Time waits for no one, and the situation is urgent! We need to get these little ones into the Black Forest frontline battles ASAP, right?"

Everyone nodded in agreement. Of the fifteen leaders, only Black Crow was an assassin, so he seemed pretty isolated right now.

If Black Crow’s idea were adopted, only he would benefit. If Lorant adopted Vanessa’s idea, they’d at least have a shot.

"But I don’t fully agree with Ms. Vanessa either," the boy continued, "Your Lion Corps is mostly warriors, knights, and berserkers. They’d do best with pets that can attack from a distance, like the Glassy Ice Flame Dog or the Wingless Flywheel."

"Pairing the Shadowstrike Cat with you would be a waste."

"This little one’s abilities fit better with our 'Poison Bee'. The Furious Ragdoll Bear can draw attention up front, while we take them out from behind with bows and arrows. The Shadowstrike Cat picks its moment. Our 'Poison Bee' will be a real 'Poison Bee' army, where enemies are taken out in one strike, no questions asked!"

The boy’s eyes lit up, and he was practically bouncing with excitement. Clearly, this was his real purpose.

Lorant couldn’t help but smirk.

In the end, everyone just wanted the Shadowstrike Cat for their own legion. That was all they cared about.

These seasoned practitioners had a hundred reasons why their legions needed the Shadowstrike Cat, and they could make it sound plausible and well-reasoned, easily leading people astray at first listen. Even if something was unreasonable, they would twist it three times.

When the others heard that this damn archer hadn’t said a few words before steering the topic back to his own legion, they couldn’t hold back anymore and started arguing with each other.

The Night's Watch members each held their own views, and no one could convince anyone else. The argument was quite lively.

Lorant sat in front of this group, with the sound of quarreling like market aunties in his ears. He stared blankly at the crackling magical bonfire, feeling as if he had returned to the Watcher's Castle.

His decision today was probably wrong from the very beginning...

With a headache, he drove out the practitioners who were arguing like elementary school students, rubbed his aching head, and prepared to make a unilateral decision.

Lancelot had been watching the excitement from the side. Regarding these matters, he clearly understood that he was not a suitable strategist.

Perhaps, considered alone, a knight could indeed be described as brave and resourceful, and during his student days, he had always played the role of a team's brain.

But everything fears comparison.

Compared to his lover, Lancelot was very willing to admit that he should not show off his meager skills.

Seeing Lorant's headache, the knight considerately walked over and stood behind him, skillfully starting to massage Lorant's head.

"Mr. Shopkeeper, regret letting these interested parties come?" he teased.

Lorant helplessly shook his head, grabbed Lancelot's wrist, and adjusted the position of the knight's hand on his head so that he could massage him more comfortably.

"Indeed, I regret it."

"You know, for a moment I felt like I was back in the Watchman's Castle," he said, looking up at Lancelot with a lingering dread. "It was terrifying, that sense of familiarity!"

"Do you think it's because we didn’t choose the names wisely? 'Night's Watch' and 'Watcher' do seem quite similar now."

"I feel like my Night's Watch has inherited some unwanted legacies..." Lorant complained weakly.

Lancelot burst into laughter behind him, leaning down to hug Lorant from behind, pressing his face into Lorant's shoulder blade, rubbing against his warm skin and feeling the boy's pulse.

He left tender and lasting marks beside Lorant.

Fa Meng also laughed and fell into Lorant's lap, 'accidentally' pushing the quietly indignant little Shadowstrike Cat out of the way.

Xiao Lan, who had stealthily reappeared on Lorant's shoulder after the stranger left, looked down at the cunning plump dragon in Lorant's arms. He saw its well-executed maneuver of 'timing its entry into Lorant's arms, then forcefully kicking the little Shadowstrike Cat out with a back leg, and finally feigning innocence with a goofy smile when Lorant looked over.' Xiao Lan couldn't help but nod in quiet approval.

Hmm, learned a new trick today!

In the end, Lorant decided to mediate by allocating the Shadowstrike Cats to several legions that were relatively more suitable for them to learn and complement others in battle, as well as to Black Crow's Feather Crow Legion.

However, the number of Shadowstrike Cats assigned to Black Crow was considerably more than to the other legions.

The youthful-looking archer, Walker, had made a minor miscalculation in his analysis.

In Lorant's eyes, the situation on the Black Forest front was not at all pressing.

It wasn’t him who was eager to get the Blue Star Fortress built as soon as possible, but the other members of the Watcher's Council.

For Lorant, since he had already gained control of the fortress, everything else could take his time.

This wasn’t to say he was neglecting his duties or disregarding the safety of human society.

It was just that the unique mountain pass structure gave Lorant enough confidence to proceed at his own pace.

Lorant hadn’t personally been near that mountain pass, but from the imagery, it was clear how well-hidden it was.

He had even considered how to attract the creature swarms from the other side of the mountains to sustain his fortress once he took over.

He didn’t want his Lopulo Pass to become the first pass without any beasts, where adventurers would find fewer beasts than in the Black Forest—that would be a total farce.

While too many beasts could be intimidating, having none at all would be equally troublesome, wouldn’t it?

For this reason, Lorant wasn’t in a hurry to push his frontlines.

He had reason to believe that his Lopulo Mountain Pass wasn’t something that needed immediate attention.

Like the princess in Zelda, since a hundred years had already passed, what was the rush to save her? Might as well enjoy the scenery, pick some apples, and catch some grasshoppers.

He felt no mental strain about it.

What he wanted was a steady and solid foundation for all the beasts to grow in a good environment.

So that in the future, Blue Star would be as secure as a fortress.

On this basis, if the little Shadowstrike Cats could help in the cleanup of the Black Forest, that would be great. If not, Lorant wouldn’t force it.

The Black Forest front was already being cleared in an orderly and stable manner; speeding it up wasn’t the most important thing.

Faced with this distribution, some of the responsible parties indeed had something to say.

For example, Reading, who was given the smallest number of Shadowstrike Cats—so few it almost seemed perfunctory.

As the leader of the 'Fire Owl' unit, primarily composed of mages, Reading was only allocated two Shadowstrike Cats.

Two! Only two!

After a stunned pause, he kept complaining in Lorant's ear for about half an hour.

However, this clearly did not change Lorant's mind in the slightest.

"You should be well aware of the terrifying scenes your mages create during battles," Lorant said helplessly, looking at Reading, who was looking resentful. He thought it might be necessary to remind him that a burly man with a beard wasn’t suited for such expressions; it looked pretty gross.

"You understand, for these little ones to utilize their abilities, the most basic requirement is to get close to those beasts."

"If they were under your command, they would probably be blasted into pieces by magic before they even got a glimpse of those beasts!"

Reading, embarrassed, scratched his nose.

Well aware of his own shortcomings, facing Lorant who was fully aware of everything, Reading couldn’t deny it.

His Fire Owl unit had the highest proportion of mages among the fifteen units of the Night’s Watch.

Most of these mages weren’t 'proper mages' from the Magic Council but rather scattered individuals who had reached their current level through luck and talent.

These scattered mages shared a common trait in battle: their combat scenes always appeared exceptionally grand.

If you had to guess why, it might trace back to these wandering mages who, without the support of a large organization and relying solely on themselves, had to perfectly display and even exaggerate their abilities when they were still weak in the early stages of their careers, in order to gain the favor of some adventure teams or to join certain high-demand organizations.