Volume One: The Forest Knight Chapter 21: An Unexpected Gain

After Mrs. Vera returned home, she told Gamlin what had happened. Gamlin listened in silence, thinking only that once his wounds healed, he would find Big Dog Oak and repay him the money. A little over a week later, Gamlin was nearly recovered. Upon spotting Big Dog Oak in the street, he took out five silver coins and handed them over, but to his surprise, Big Dog Oak insisted it wasn’t five dinars, but fifty, and claimed Mrs. Vera had signed a loan agreement with him. Gamlin was furious and beat Big Dog Oak soundly in the street, taking back his five silver coins.

The next day, Sir Sack gathered everyone at the magistrate’s office. Gamlin sensed something amiss as soon as he entered, and when he saw Big Dog Oak, he realized trouble was brewing. Big Dog Oak produced a supposed loan slip signed by Mrs. Vera, and the apothecary appeared as witness, confirming Mrs. Vera had borrowed money from Big Dog Oak. Gamlin was enraged and tried to assault the two men then and there, but Sir Sack stopped him. The new deputy magistrate not only dismissed Gamlin on the spot but ordered him to repay the debt within three days, and pay Big Dog Oak fifty dinars for his convalescence, then had Gamlin thrown out.

Driven from the magistrate’s office, Gamlin recalled the way Sir Sack had eyed his daughter that day, and suddenly understood why fate had turned against him. Now stripped of his official title and owing Big Dog Oak’s usurious debt, his only recourse was to get his family out of the city and hide, then plan his next move. He hadn’t reckoned, however, that Sir Sack had already laid traps; scarcely had the family reached the city gate when Big Dog Oak and his men blocked them in the street. If not for Berion’s intervention, Gamlin’s family would have been destroyed.

In both his past and present life, Berion knew that selfishness and greed have always led men to commit evil, and such villains were all too common. In his previous life, powerless and constrained by society, he could only vent his anger online. But now, in this era, with some authority at his disposal, Berion felt it his duty to punish evil and uphold justice—especially when the evildoer was his own enemy. He would not let this man off lightly.

Once Berion had led Gamlin’s family to the farmstead beyond the city, he and Eomer instructed Tur to blend them among the serfs and take them back to Norland Castle, while Berion and Eomer, with five clever soldiers, changed into farmers’ garb in the woodland outside the city. Leaving two soldiers to guard the horses, Berion and four men concealed their weapons in baskets of vegetables and, before the gates of Amondin closed, slipped past the sentries and entered the city.

Sir Sack’s house was not hard to find. With a little inquiry, they learned its location. As night fell, the five men crept to his residence, confirming there were no dogs and only two guards. They scaled the wall and entered the small estate. The house was modest—a two-story cottage at the entrance, with storerooms and a kitchen flanking either side, quarters for the guards, and a garden and stable in the rear.

Night had fallen for some time. Candlelight gleamed in the cottage where Sir Sack lived; the sound of his voice conversing with a young lady drifted faintly from inside. Meanwhile, the two guards lounged in the kitchen, eating and flirting with the cook. Berion and Eomer exchanged a glance and wrapped cloths around their faces. Berion, with two soldiers, entered through the kitchen’s front door; Eomer, with one sol