Chapter 21: The Call of Duty

The golden lion crest represented the Bonaparte family, one of the four great families in the capital after the royal family. Even a common disciple from one of these four families was not someone they could touch, especially since this crest was only possessed by the direct line of the Bonaparte family.

“Seize these two and take them to the dungeon.”

The captain quickly changed his orders, and the soldiers surrounded and captured the two young men. But Franz raised his hand to stop them.

“Wait a moment.”

Saying that, he sat down and gently patted the girl's head with a kind smile.

“Little sister, what’s your name?”

Unexpectedly, the girl, seeing the soldiers' attitude towards Franz, immediately knelt and begged.

“Sir, please save my brother. Natasha is willing to serve you as a maid for life.”

Franz frowned and quickly helped Natasha up, saying,

“Hold on, tell me everything.”

It turned out Natasha was originally from the northern border, where the Roaring Tiger Legion was stationed. The village she lived in was a small settlement in a valley behind the Roaring Tiger Legion’s base. The villagers mainly relied on hunting because the area was covered in snow year-round, making agriculture impossible. Six months ago, a group of swordsmen suddenly stormed in, burning and destroying Natasha’s village and killing everyone, including Natasha's parents. They captured all teenagers and young women aged 8 to 18 and brought them to the capital to be sold at the slave market. Today, taking advantage of the guards’ lapse, Natasha managed to escape with the help of the other youths, but they were eventually discovered and chased until they met Franz.

Upon hearing this, Franz was furious. Even though this was his current life, his thoughts were still those of a compassionate and benevolent Vietnamese. Such acts of massacre were unacceptable to him; they violated his principles. However, Franz felt helpless regarding human trafficking. In this world, justice belonged to the strong, and human trafficking was considered legal. Even if he wanted to stop it, he couldn’t. His eyes reddened as he embraced Natasha and gently patted her back.

“Don’t worry. I will definitely rescue everyone.”

Natasha was stunned. Suddenly, she felt an overwhelming sense of peace. The warmth was something she hadn’t felt in a long time. After half a year of living in anxiety and fear, it was an enormous challenge for a girl barely 8 or 9 years old. Now, Natasha felt as if she had been freed. An overwhelming fatigue washed over her, causing the little girl to fall asleep on Franz's shoulder.

Franz was startled to see Natasha sleeping peacefully on his shoulder. He felt a strong urge to protect this poor girl. He picked up Natasha and spoke as if to someone.

“I want my personal guards to be here within 5 minutes. Otherwise, you can stop following me.”

Franz’s voice was filled with a deadly seriousness that had never been heard before, making the entire squad of soldiers shiver internally, thinking, “We’re lucky we didn’t provoke this person.”

Indeed, five minutes later, a squad of over a hundred black-armored swordsmen and archers arrived. The golden lion crest on their shoulders was the symbol of the Bonaparte family's personal guards. The Bonaparte family’s head held the title of Count, and even Franz's grandfather was a Duke with vast territories, so their personal guards were numerous. Franz initially intended to mobilize public security troops to rescue Natasha’s brother but reconsidered. Although the Bonaparte family was a major family in the empire, standing tall would attract unwanted attention. Without a title, if he arbitrarily mobilized imperial soldiers, it could lead to unnecessary suspicions from the royal family towards the Bonaparte family.

“Captain Forde of the Golden Lion Guard reporting, Young Master. 110 members of the Golden Lion Guard are present.”

The captain of the Golden Lion Guard respectfully punched his left chest and bowed to Franz. Franz was slightly taken aback. He knew there was always a mysterious person watching over him, resembling Emon. Although it made him uncomfortable, since this person was sent by Duss to protect him, he said nothing. He hadn’t expected this person to be able to summon the Golden Lion Guard. It was worth noting that currently, there were only over 2,000 personal guards protecting the family’s headquarters in the capital, and the Golden Lion Guard was only about 200 strong. Each member of the Golden Lion Guard was at least a Grand Warrior, particularly elite, and comparable to the royal guards.

Franz assessed Forde. He was indeed a strong man, nearly 30 years old, with a rugged and resolute face showing a generous demeanor. Standing nearly six feet tall, with broad shoulders and well-defined muscles visible under his black armor, he carried a cross-shaped sword over a meter long on his hip. Franz's initial assessment was that this person was not bad and worth befriending. Meanwhile, Forde also assessed this young master. Franz was not unfamiliar to them; there were many legends about him within the family. Franz had always secluded himself in his room and later became powerful, venturing into the monster-infested forest, so this was Forde’s first time meeting him.