Ulric glanced at Kael, and the latter nodded in understanding.

Both agreed that the masked man was both strong and dangerous. In fact, they could instinctively feel that even if they all worked together, they might not be a match for this person.

’I now understand why Leone had asked for Great Uncle’s help,’ Ulric thought as he stared at the masked man, who seemed to be appraising him and Kael.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" Ulric asked, his hand hovering close to the handle of his axe, which he had strapped on his Raptor’s back.

"I came here to look for Leone Frontera," the masked man replied. "Don’t worry. I’m not a suspicious person."

"From where I stand, you look very suspicious to me," Kael stated. "Leone is our Great Chieftain, so we can’t allow him to meet suspicious and potentially dangerous individuals. Especially someone who reeks of the stench of death on his person."

To Kael’s surprise, the masked man actually chuckled before nodding his head in agreement.

"Fair enough," the masked man replied. "But how can I prove that I don’t plan to hurt Leone?"

"First, state your business. Tell us why you are looking for him." Ulric narrowed his eyes. "You must have a reason why you’re looking for him, right?"

The masked man pondered for a while before reaching out to grab something hidden under his robe.

Thinking he was about to pull their weapon and perhaps attack them, Ulric grabbed hold of his axe. The warriors of the Aslan Tribe also raised their spears, pointing it at the masked man in the distance.

However, none of them attacked. Not yet. They had simply adjusted to a fighting stance subconsciously, thinking the person in front of them was about to attack them.

But when they saw the thing the man pulled out from his robe, they relaxed a little. It was a letter. Ulric raised his hand and ordered his men to lower their weapons.

Even so, he still didn’t let go of the handle of his axe. Just to be safe.

"This sealed letter is written by Lady Helen, Leone Frontera’s mother," the masked man replied. "She had asked me to look for her son, keep him safe, and personally deliver this letter to him.

"As such, I cannot hand it over to any of you. I have yet to be sure whether your chieftain is really the person I am looking for. I hope you also understand my circumstances."

While Ulric and Kael were pondering how to proceed, Blitz appeared and landed on Ulric’s shoulder.

*Squeak!*

The flying squirrel’s appearance was the signal that they were waiting for. If Blitz appeared, it meant that Leone approved the masked man’s entry to their domain.

"Please follow us," Ulric said calmly. "You can also enter, Malcolm. Our chieftain has been expecting you as well."

Only after they were finally allowed passage did Malcolm breathe out a sigh of relief.

They had traveled far to be here and even almost got into trouble with the Grimfang Tribe.

The veteran warrior hoped that the masked man wouldn’t cause any trouble. If he did, it would reflect badly on him, for he was the one who brought the suspicious person to Grimjaw Mountain.

As they headed deeper into the forest, the masked man kept looking at the ground, as well as at the trees at the side of the path they were taking.

"This forest has claimed the lives of many people," the masked man commented. "And it happened fairly recently. Did an internal conflict arise within the Aslan Tribe?"

"No," Ulric replied. "An opposing tribe and their allies tried to raid our territory. The majority of them ended up dying inside the forest." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"That doesn’t sound good. Did the Young Master get hurt during the raid?" the masked man asked.

"Young Master?" Kael arched an eyebrow. "Are you talking about our Great Chieftain?"

"Yes."

"He wasn’t hurt. The enemy didn’t even get the chance to bypass our defense despite bringing nearly three thousand warriors to attack us."

The masked man might not know everything about the Borderlands, but he was quite familiar with the name of the fourteen tribes that lived there.

The high-ranking tribes lived in the south.

The middle-ranked tribes lived in the west, and the low-ranking tribes lived in the east.

Since they were at the east, this meant that the people he was interacting with were from the low-ranking tribes.

And yet, he was quite impressed with Ulric and Kael.

Both were somewhat stronger than regular barbarian warriors in his eyes, which made him wonder if the Kingdom of Britannia had underestimated the low-ranking tribes in the Borderlands too much.

When they finally arrived at the clearing, the masked man saw another group of people waiting for their arrival.

However, he also noticed something he didn’t expect to see in the Borderlands.

A fortress made of stone stood snugly on the mountain, serving as a powerful deterrent toward anyone who dared to attack this domain.

After seeing that, the masked man finally understood why the warriors who had attacked the Aslan Tribe failed to breach their defenses.

He then shifted his gaze to the young man with short blonde hair and blue eyes, seated on top of a white horse with wings.

Several warriors were beside him, no doubt serving as his protectors. However, the one that truly caught the masked man’s attention was the old man standing beside Leone.

"What a monster," the masked man muttered while staring at Gundar.

Earlier, he was still quite at ease. But now, his body had tensed up a bit. His posture now was also straighter.

Just like Ulric and Kael earlier, he had come to a state of preparedness, ready to fight or escape depending on the situation.

"Who are you?" Leone asked, forcing the masked man to look in his direction.

"I go by the name, Hassan, Young Master Leone." Hassan bowed respectfully. "Have you heard of my name from your mother, Lady Helen, in the past?"

"No." Leone shook his head. "This is the first time I’ve heard of you."

"Well, it’s no surprise you don’t know me." Hassan smiled in return. "I have a letter from your mother. She ordered me to deliver it to you personally."

Leone nodded and made a gesture for Ulric to take the letter from the masked man.

The man didn’t resist, handing the letter to the warrior with the axe, who then passed it to Kael for inspection.

After taking a good look at the letter, Kael didn’t sense anything malicious. However, just to make sure that there wasn’t anything wrong with it, he decided to hand it over to Gundar first.

Seeing how cautious they were in handling the letter, Hassan couldn’t help but smirk.

He could tell with a glance that these people weren’t simply treating Leone as some kind of puppet chieftain.

No. They were seriously worried about his safety, which put his mind at ease.

’If you can only see your son now, Lady Helen, you will probably feel proud of him,’ Hassan thought. ’Not only did he survive here in the Borderlands, but he’s also thriving.’

When the letter was finally handed to Leone, the young man saw the insignia of their Viscounty on the wax that sealed the letter.

Under the watchful gazes of his vassals, the young man broke the seal and read the letter in silence.

His eyes moved across the letter in his hand.

The silence permeated for a while before Ulric, Kael, Jason, and Gundar saw a single tear slide down on the young man’s face.

They didn’t know what was written in the letter that the young man was holding in his hand. However, whatever was written there had surely touched the young man’s heart... who had missed his loved ones very much.