He took out a fresh bison thigh from the storage room in the kitchen. He had just gotten some supplies from the train station at Dorinibla River and tossed it in front of Black Wind, who was wagging its tail nonstop.
After some thought, Claude took a small basin and poured half of it in. He placed it in front of the wolf and gave it another slap on the head. "Be good. If you're full, lie down here. Don't give me any trouble."
After settling Black Wind down, Claude fetched a basin of hot water and a clean towel. He wrung it dry and gently wiped the dust off the magus's face.
Soon, a picturesque face that matched his memories appeared in front of him.
It had only been a decade since they last met, but the beautiful face in his memories was now weathered. Her brows were filled with wariness and exhaustion and there were even wrinkles on her forehead and the corners of her eyes.
Claude stared at the unconscious magus in a daze, his heart filled with regret and joy at finding her after losing her for so long.
He had already forgotten when he lost contact with Sheila. He only remembered that he left her to visit his family and get married.
Then, he joined Ranger in the royal capital and joined the military academy to become Marshall Michelic's disciple.
In those few years, when he thought of Sheerah, he would often write to her, but there was no reply to all the letters, so he slowly forgot to continue writing to her, and slowly buried Sheerah in the depths of his memory …
Then, he followed Ranger to the colonies. It had been more than ten years since then.
He never thought that his first love in this world would appear before him so suddenly. He thought that he would never see her again in this life and that the feelings of his first love would be buried deep in his heart.
The sky began to brighten and the sun rose.
Just like that, Claude sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the magus on it. The wolf lay beside him and looked at Claude from time to time, sniffing him with its nose, careful not to let Claude notice.
Of course, Claude's mind was focused on his first love and didn't notice Black Wind's actions.
Someone knocked on the door and snapped him out of his reverie.
"General, we're almost at Castle Harod Station. Look …" Mason Hughes looked at the black wolf fearfully before looking at Claude. He only breathed a sigh of relief after making sure he was fine.
Claude rubbed his brow and stood up. He swung his legs that were numb from sitting for too long and rubbed them with both hands to get his blood flowing faster.
If possible, he didn't want anyone to disturb his time alone with Sheerah. However, so many people had died last night, and even several of his guards had been injured. As the general of the military and the highest-ranking person on this train, he had to deal with the aftermath.
"Let the train stop at the station for a day. Inform the railway operator that there was a robbery last night. Most of the bandits have been wiped out, and a few may have escaped.
Because of the heavy casualties, they asked them to send people to deal with it.
Compensate the injured staff and passengers as much as they should. Strengthen the security of every train in the future to prevent something like this from happening again. "
Claude had no choice but to categorize the dead members of the special department as bandits who had boarded the train. Dead men tell no tales, lest he implicated his first love.
Next, it was up to the railway company to appease the unlucky passengers who had encountered this incident. It was nothing more than the amount of compensation. They would try their best to minimize the impact of the incident. It would be best for everyone to forget about this train robbery after half a year.
"I'll leave it to you to deal with this," Claude said.
As the most powerful person in the region, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to step in. It would only make things worse. "As for her, keep it a secret. Don't get dragged into it. Understand?"
"Yes, General."
As Claude's adjutant, Mason Hughes naturally knew who he was referring to. He saluted and was about to leave when Claude called him back.
"Wait. When we reach Harod Castle Station, get us some fresh beef and mutton, as well as some milk and rye wine." Claude still remembered how Blackwind loved rye wine.
"Yes, General." Major Mason Hughes looked at the huge black wolf again. The huge black wolf waved its tail at him.
Half an hour later, the train arrived at Castle Harrod Station. Soon, the entire station was alerted by the robbery. Corpses of the bandits and passengers were carried down from the train and lined up on the platform. The injured passengers were sobbing as they recounted their experiences. The station was bustling with people. The local garrison quickly took over the station to maintain order.
However, no one came to disturb Claude. Two squads of guards had already set up a perimeter around the room. Major Mason Hughes represented Claude in front of the station manager, the local patrol department and the local garrison forces to explain the details of the incident.
Gum finally appeared in front of Claude with the tragic news of the last two bandits dying. At the same time, he handed Claude a black folder containing the confessions of the two bandits who had been jolted awake by stimulants. They told him why they were after Sheila.
"General, I've already given the order to keep their mouths shut," Gum said.
The big Gum said as he broke out in a cold sweat after hearing the testimony of the two agents from the kingdom's special department.
Prince Hansbach, the king they were talking about, Hansbach the First, had been assassinated by this female Magician. They, the special agents of the kingdom, had been hunting her down for two to three years now …
Gum didn't think that the so-called female magus was actually Claude's lover, Sheila, back when he was stationed at Squirrel Village during the five-year war. He had seen Sheila back then and helped her transport construction materials to build a small wooden hut.
He knew that if word of this got out, it would cause a huge commotion. So, he ordered the guards to keep their mouths shut and forbade them from talking about it.
Claude nodded. He didn't blame Gome for making such a decision. The guards in charge of security were all trusted aides of Claude and had been carefully inspected. Their loyalty to Claude was unquestionable, so they were naturally trustworthy.
The fact that Gum could give the order without Claude's permission meant that Sheila's situation was extremely complicated.
He flipped through the documents and scanned through the confessions. His expression finally changed. Sheila was actually Hansbach's killer? How was that possible?
However, Claude calmed himself down. Who cared if the prince died in Sheila's hands? Sheila was right in front of him and he wouldn't hand her over.
With Claude's current status, there was no need for him to fear anything. Protecting Sheila would be a piece of cake.
After Gum left, Claude returned to the bed and stared at the sleeping Sheerah. He made up his mind that no one would ever let Sheerah leave his side again.
It wasn't until the evening that Sheerah finally woke up, but the pain in her body made her groan involuntarily.
"You're awake?
Sheila, it's me. It's Claude. "
He immediately went to the bedside and lit the candle on the bedside candlestick so that Sheila could see him more clearly.
"Claude … Is it really you?" Sheila looked at Claude in a daze. She reached out to touch his face, but she retracted her hand halfway.
Claude grabbed her hand and placed it on his face. "It's me, Sheila. I'm still your Claude …"
Sheila rubbed her palm against Claude's face and muttered, "C-Claude, you've changed. You've changed so much that I almost couldn't recognize you …"
Claude's tears were about to fall. He used his hand and his cheek to hold Sheila's hand. They hadn't seen each other for more than a decade. He had changed from the young captain who was passionately in love with Sheila to a powerful general in charge. How could he not change?
The life and death experiences on the battlefield and the vigor he displayed on the battlefield had long transformed him into an iron-blooded commander, the ever-victorious general in the eyes of his subordinates. He was no longer as innocent as when the two of them first met …
Even though Claude was still the youngest general in the military, not even forty years old, in order to maintain his dignity in front of his subordinates, he deliberately kept a mustache on his lips to make himself look more mature.
Had it not been for the fact that his features were still the same as before, she might not have been able to recognize him as her first love.
"Don't talk for now. I made egg porridge for you. Fill your stomach first. I'll change your bandages later. Rest well. We'll have plenty of time in the future. We can talk slowly …" Claude reluctantly put Sheila's hand back beside the pillow. He got up and went to the small kitchen in the special room to get his oatmeal and egg porridge that had been heated for a long time.
He fed Sheila the porridge first and changed the bandages and medicine on her body. He also used a cleansing spell to help Sheila clean the dirt on her body.
After being tormented for a long time, Sheerah fell into a deep slumber again. However, no matter how deep her slumber was, she held onto Claude's hand tightly. Claude simply laid on the bed and dozed off while holding her hand.
Sheila only let go of Claude's hand when she woke up around two in the morning.
Claude fed her another bowl of egg porridge and helped her to the small bathroom. After that, he carried her to the bed.
Sheila was in good spirits. She pestered Claude to tell her about his experiences in the years since they parted.
Claude briefly recounted his experiences. It was nothing more than preparing for war, defeating the enemy, and continuing to prepare for war …
Sheila finally understood. "No wonder I couldn't find you. So you were sent here to fight in the war for more than ten years …"
"Huh?
You're looking for me?
That can't be, it should be easy. The war between us and Shiks has attracted the attention of many countries. Be it the countries on Freia or the colonies on the west coast, there are many newspapers reporting about it. My name is often in the papers too, so it's easy to tell I'm in the region, "Claude said in bewilderment.
"I'm sorry, Claude. I always thought the General Ferd in the papers only had the same surname as you. I didn't think it was you.
Also, the papers only mentioned your surname and didn't mention your name. Also, the two corps in the colonies fighting Shiks are second-line corps. You mentioned in your letter that you joined Ranger and were part of the royal guard of Stellin's division. "
Sheila's answer made Claude understand. That was indeed the case. Even when the papers mentioned the generals on both sides of the war, they would refer to them by their surnames as a sign of respect.
In the military, those who knew Claude would call him General Claude or Lord Claude to show their closeness.
However, to avoid any disputes, the papers would refer to him by his surname, so Claude became General Ferd. Those who didn't know him wouldn't know that General Ferd was referring to Claude.
"But I wrote you so many letters in those two years, but you didn't reply to any of them."
"I only received three letters," Sheila said pitifully, "At first, I resented you for leaving so quickly and didn't want to talk to you anymore.
But by the time I received your third letter, two years had passed. It said that you joined Ranger in the royal capital. I couldn't even reply.
The old chief died and Squirrel Village was gone. There was no one left on Mountain Pass. When I wanted to buy some daily necessities, I had to walk for a few days to the towns outside. "
"Why did Squirrel Village disappear?
How did the old chief die? "Claude asked curiously.
Sheila told him that two years after Claude left, the war seemed to have ended and the garrison stationed in Squirrel Village had to retreat back to the kingdom.
Then, a new group of people came to set up checkpoints on Mountain Pass to collect tolls. They were stationed in Squirrel Village as well.
The new captain was greedy and forced the old chief to give him half of the tavern's shares. He ate and played in the tavern every day.
As a result, the tavern's business plummeted and couldn't make ends meet. The captain blamed the old chief for not managing the tavern well enough and forced him to sell the tavern's shares back to the old chief. He didn't even spend a single penny to extort all of the old chief's savings.
He continued to eat and drink in the tavern, running up debts and forcing the tavern to close down.
Without the tavern, the team leader once again set his sights on the mountain products in the hands of the villagers. He used his subordinates to set up a checkpoint on the mountain path, not allowing the mountain people to privately sell the mountain products outside. He could only send people to buy the mountain products from the hands of the mountain people at a very low price. It could be said that it was a robbery. In the end, the mountain people could no longer live in the mountains. One by one, they fled to places far away from the mountain path. The old village chief died of anger at that time.
After the death of the old village chief, the villagers of Squirrel Village also left. In the end, there was no one left in Squirrel Village. After it was abandoned, the brigade could no longer stay in Squirrel Village. After another month or so, they retreated, and the entire Mountain Crossing Road was abandoned and became an uninhabited area …
So, Sheila never heard from Claude again. She stayed in the mountains and rarely went out. She would only go out once every one or two years to buy some daily necessities.
Even with magic, it would take several days to get out of the mountains from their secluded place in the mountains.
Under such circumstances, Sheila couldn't write back to Claude.
Sheerah had been living in seclusion in the forest for seven years. She had become a fifth-circle Nature Mage and mastered all the spells that her mother had left for her. Black Wind's Spiritualization spell had also evolved, and he could now transform into a three-month-old puppy. Sheerah could finally carry him around the town without worrying about him scaring other people.
Only then did Sheila decide to leave the mountains. Her first decision was to go to the royal capital to find Claude.
However, she couldn't find any news of Claude at all when she reached the royal capital.
At the mention of Ranger, everyone would look at her with pity, sighing that the trash of Ranger had once again harmed a pure and innocent girl.
It wasn't easy for Sheila to find out the truth. It turned out that Ranger's reputation in the royal capital was terrible. It was a gathering place for the peripheral members of the Stellin royal family to fool around. They never trained and had no discipline. They were hated by everyone in the royal capital and didn't commit any major or major crimes.
So, she went straight to Ranger's base. A few peripheral members of the royal family tricked her into going in to force themselves on her because of her beauty, but they couldn't even withstand a single blow from her. In order to save their fifth limbs from Black Wind's jaws, they almost flipped the entire division upside down. All the personnel records were presented to her and confirmed that there wasn't a single civilian captain or major in Ranger by the name of Claude.
The peripheral members of the royal family didn't know about Ranger's past. Claude was speechless. By the time Sheila left the mountains, Claude had already become the highest-ranking officer of the war theatre, the jarl of Thundercrash and a major-general of the kingdom.
That was how the two of them missed each other. If Sheila had met someone in the royal capital who knew about Ranger, she would've known that Claude was in the colonies.
Unable to find Claude, Sheila decided to go to the western coast of Nubissia. That was where her mother and other magi went to explore the ruins.
She endured a lot of hardships before she finally reached the western coast. With the help of a few magi she met on the way, she spent three years to find her mother's whereabouts and the magical ruins. However, her mother had already passed away.
Having lost her family, Sheila decided to return to Freia and live in seclusion. But when her ship arrived at the newly occupied port of Floroc, she bumped into Prince Hansbach leading his troops back from Whitestag.
Sheila recalled Claude mentioning how highly the prince regarded him and promoted him, so she went to see the prince with hope to find out Claude's whereabouts.
As she was a beauty, she was able to meet the prince easily.
Only the heavens knew what the prince was thinking at the time. Perhaps it was due to his defeat, or perhaps it was due to his hatred for the betrayal of the five generals of the war theatre, he didn't know that Sheila was a magus. Instead, he thought of her as a beauty who had been waiting for a lover for a long time and a target to vent his anger on. That was the biggest mistake of his life.
The prince didn't tell her where Claude was. Instead, he scolded Claude and the others in front of her for betraying his trust and becoming traitors to the kingdom. He swore that he would one day lead his army to eradicate Claude's traitors and so on.
Because of the alcohol, the prince started to make a move on Sheila.
Sheerah, on the other hand, had become a decisive female Magician after three years of adventuring. She shot a Magic Missile straight through the prince's head, then picked up the exquisite revolver box that the prince had placed on the table and ran away …