A resentful look appeared on Luphen's face as he glowered at Erwin and Larwood. Despite how slippery and cunning he was, he hadn't been able to outsmart these two young nobles at all.

In the end, Luphen handed over the promised 45,000 Loonies in an extremely reluctant manner, and all of his men were forced to leave their armor and weapons behind. After that, they scurried away toward the northeast in a sorry state, much to the amusement of everyone in the Four Winds mercenary legion.

"I'm afraid that's all we can do, Christine," Erwin sighed as he watched Luphen and his mercenaries depart into the distance. "I really want to kill these bandits from the Skycourt Kingdom as well, but in times of war, we have to think for the greater good of our troops, so I can't just act according to my own selfish desires."

"It's alright, Brother Erwin," Christine hurriedly consoled. "It's already enough for me to see those bandits be humiliated like this. You can keep all of the Loonies that we recovered from them."

Erwin wanted to accept the Loonies, but he was a little embarrassed. "We can't do that. That would be..."

"You saved me and my father, so you deserve this money as repayment," Christine cut him off with a shake of her head. "I'm very grateful for everything you've already done for us, but my father...