In the evening, Horn and a group of Holy Armor Cultivators carried phosphorescent lamps along Honey River until they reached Peat Town to rest.

This town is one of the Priestly Order residences in Honey River Monastery.

The entire town is just a crossroads, with Believers' Square, the Priest's Church, the market, and the Town Hall at the four corners.

Then along the roads, houses, a blacksmith shop, and a grocery store radiate outwards.

Horn pushed open the oak door of the Town Hall and had just sat down when the local Priest-in-Charge Mosmanter stumbled in.

"I, you, Your Grace, I am that, that, that, that..."

Looking at the disheveled Priest-in-Charge, Horn shook his head.

Two Holy Armor Cultivators forced him into a chair, gave him two gulps of hot coffee, calmed him down before speaking.

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

"Your Grace, it's terrible." Mosmanter wailed, lying on the table, "The Border Knight Order has invaded!"

"Nonsense!" A Holy Armor Cultivator slammed down on the table that was once upgraded from a Corps Commander of the Imperial Guard to a Captain Ten of the Holy Armor Forbidden Army's Laurent.

Horn was always close with these officers he trained and did not use them truly as guards.

"This is Honey River Town, with High Castle Town between it and Adan Castle!" This former young tailor stared at him. "Where did the Border Knight come from!"

"It's true, it's true!" Mosmanter was about to cry, "The Border Knights have reached East Bule Manor, and both my attendants were shot dead by them."

Two attendants? Horn found it jarring to hear, those were his Wandering Cultivators, they should be called fellow believers!

But now, he couldn't manage that much; Border Knights appearing behind defensive lines was perplexing no matter how he looked at it.

"Tell the entire story from start to finish, don't leave out any details." Horn took a sip of bitter coffee, known to those familiar with him as his thinking posture.

Feeling both fearful and anxious, Mosmanter sat on a low stool, his face alternating between blue and red, stammering.

"Your Grace, after you advised me personally, I awaited the orders of Valent Taylor, the Senior Pastor, and after receiving them yesterday, I was to go inspect the land."

This was known to Horn, part of Valent Taylor's plan.

Inspecting the land wasn't to reclaim or tax but to legalize the military settlement by fixing the land through land deeds.

The purpose was to undermine André because André asked them to plant secretly, while Horn solidly gave the land.

No matter what André did, he had no right or ability to guarantee legalization.

Accepting Horn's land makes them Horn's soldiers.

"I brought two Wandering Cultivators to the farthest Hundred Households District, the place pushing for military settlement legalization.

On the way, we encountered a group of archers in chainmail and robes.

It was dark, and I couldn't see clearly, thinking they were soldiers of the Iron Fist Battle Group, so I asked them to give way; they immediately pulled their bows and shot.

My two attendants were shot dead instantly, I pretended to fall off the horse, crawled into the bushes to hide, and saw the Border Knight Order's flag when they came to collect the bodies.

After they left, I carefully crawled out of the bushes, borrowed a horse from a farmer's house, and escaped back."

Recalling the perilous moment, Mosmanter couldn't help but feel fearful, even retching.

He was originally a middle-aged monk in the monastery, never seen blood in his life, let alone such a scene.

Inside the Town Hall, the corridors, stairs, around doors, and even beyond windows were crowded with curious Holy Armor Forbidden Army personnel.

Listening to the middle-aged Priest-in-Charge's account, some people were raring to go, while others whispered.

"It's wandering Holy Throne devils?"

"For them to come over, they would need to bypass Adan Castle and cross the foothill ridges of the Red Iron Mountain Range where nothing but cliffs and sentry towers abound, it's impossible not to warn."

"With all the backtracking done, our soldiers should be waiting in ambush."

"Boil another pot of coffee." Horn drinking from an empty cup belatedly gave instructions.

He paused for a moment and continued speaking to several Holy Armor Forbidden Army members at the door, "Your riding skills are good, go check the situation over there, return quickly."

"Your Grace, what is there to check?" A retching Mosmanter jumped up, "The distance is only half a day's journey.

If the Border Knight Order marches at night, they'll arrive shortly.

To be safe, you should immediately head south and hide in Sentry Fort!"

"Even if they come, they won't number more than two thousand, our Holy Armor Forbidden Army has three hundred-man teams, sweeping three thousand isn't an issue, what's there to fear?"

"It's not that." After hesitating several times, Mosmanter finally expressed his fears, "It's that the Border Knight Order may have been deliberately let in by André, the Battle Commander!"

"What nonsense is this!"

"You shouldn't sow discord!"

Lauren and Boned simultaneously stood up, scolding Mosmanter.

Mosmanter seemed to have made up his mind: "Otherwise, how is it so coincidental? Just happened not to warn? Happened to be just where you are? And precisely during the implementation of the "Military Settlement Law"?

With Mosmanter's words, the entire Town Hall was briefly quiet.

Even Horn's action of pouring coffee paused.

The crowd had faintly speculated on the situation but dared not conjecture in that direction. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

If what Mosmanter said were true, André revolting from being cornered would be no trivial matter.

Whether Horn could escape with the Guard Battle Group was secondary, as the overall war situation in Thousand River Valley would collapse.

Even more crucial is that now the Leia people are rallying under the banner of "eradicate Horn's tyranny, Thousand River Valley belongs to Moliat."

Regarding welcoming back Moliat, they were absolutely welcoming; at that time, changing flags might lead them south.

That is indeed a serious matter.

Boned immediately changed his stance: "Your Grace, Mosmanter's speculation may not be accurate, but if true, your safety is paramount."

"Would André dare to revolt?" Horn's ambiguous words sounded like a rhetorical question or a real inquiry.

Mosmanter lunged forward, clinging to Horn's leg: "Your Grace, why risk it? Allow three hundred Forbidden Army to block them, you should hurry to the dock, and unite with the two hundred Forbidden Army there, then quickly hide in Sentry Fort."

Shaking his coffee cup, Horn said nothing, seemingly unwilling to admit he was caught off guard.

The monks around had no choice but to anxiously await until the Holy Armor Forbidden Army outside became noisy.

The hurried footsteps, the open door, and the earlier Holy Armor Forbidden Army returned.

As he entered, he loudly said, "Your Grace, Mosmanter's words are true, the enemy has at least a thousand troops."

A few hundred could still be a misunderstanding, but a thousand makes the probability of misunderstanding extremely low.

The crowd in the Town Hall looked at each other, finally focusing on the silent Horn.

"Your Grace..."

Boned handed a riding whip to Horn, putting it before him.