Vanecole, the capital of the Lance Empire, is located in the center of the mainland island and is also the center of human magical civilization. Half of the nobles and wizards of the entire Lance Empire reside in this huge city of seven million people, enjoying the resources that are constantly sent from all over the world.

In early spring, a group of knights wearing light armor silently walked out of the West Gate at dawn, attracting many early morning citizens to whisper.

"It's the flag of Marshal Richardmann's family. Why are they leaving the city so early? What are they going to do?"

"Are they trying to show off in broad daylight? The military is heavily suppressed by the wizards now, and I heard that the old emperor is not in good health."

"Alright, let's not talk about national affairs, let's not talk about national affairs~ Be careful of the wizards' eyes~"

After whispering for a while, a group of commoners wearing small hats dispersed and busied themselves with their own things.

In the carriage, the elderly Richardmann opened the curtain and looked at the majestic city gate. He still vaguely remembered 17 years ago when he returned from the victorious expedition against the southern barbarians. His Majesty the Emperor led the civil and military officials out of the city to greet him 20 kilometers away. He was riding a black steed with an imposing presence. And now, after 17 years of peace, the military has also become marginalized, and the camaraderie between him and His Majesty has disappeared, replaced by a sense of suspicion and worry. And all of this～all of this～thinking of this, he sighed helplessly. A young knight rode over and asked in a low voice, "Marshal, do you have any orders?"

Richardmann shook his head. "I am no longer a marshal. I am now just an old man who wants to enjoy his twilight years. Let's speed up after leaving the city. Everyone has been waiting anxiously for the long-awaited spring hunt."

The young knight nodded, but still replied, "Yes, Marshal~" Then he rode to the front of the team, and the whole team galloped towards the southwest forest.

～～～

Along the way, two other teams joined as well. They raised their flags and set up camp outside the hunting grounds. Richardmann got off the carriage and watched the middle-aged men kneeling half in a row outside.

"Get up, I am no longer a marshal. Each and every one of you is a Legion Commander. Kneeling before a retired old man without military status, what does this look like? Get up!"

The middle-aged men stood up one by one. Today, no one was dressed in armor. They were all dressed in loose casual clothes, as if they were attending a grand spring outing.

"You are our marshal for a day, forever our marshal. If it weren't for serving under you back then, where would we be today?" The leading man said with a smile, and Richardmann just shook his head and patted his shoulder with his hand.

"The positions you have now are all earned by your own lives, Leoheart. If you really want to thank someone, you should thank those comrades who died on the battlefield. It is they who made your today possible~"

Leoheart humbly lowered his head and solemnly replied, "Yes, I understand, Marshal. I will never forget those comrades buried on the southern grassland."

Richardmann stretched his waist and did a few chest-expanding exercises. "Alright, let the past be the past. Today is the day of the spring hunt. Everyone should be happy and catch more prey. We'll cook them in a big pot later!"

A servant led his warhorse over, and the old marshal stepped onto it by stepping on the stirrup, but he didn't take the longbow handed to him by the servant.

"I'm old. I can't draw the bow anymore, so I'll use this～" As he spoke, he took out a steel crossbow from behind the saddle. This puzzled several Legion Commanders. Even if it's not talking about the past, just last year, the marshal shot a deer with one arrow. What happened this year?

"Marshal, what is this?" Leoheart asked, concerned. Richardmann laughed and said, "This was brought by my grandson a few days ago. It works really well."

While speaking, he pressed the trigger handle with the arrow already loaded, aimed at a spot one hundred meters away, and instantly killed a wild rabbit startled by hunting dogs.

"It's effortless. The best strong bow I used in the military back then was not even comparable. But this thing can be shot continuously."

While speaking, he pressed the handle again and loaded another arrow, handing it to Leoheart.

"Why don't you give it a try?"The hunting dog has returned with a wild rabbit in its mouth, and Leoheart looks at the rabbit with a broken spine in shock. "Even at a distance of a hundred meters, it still has such power? The military's strong bow wouldn't have much penetration at this range."

Richardmann holds the rabbit by its ears and removes the arrow. "Here, a steel heavy arrow. Even if someone is wearing heavy armor within a hundred meters on the battlefield, they would either die or be injured. If we had weapons like this back then, the barbarian cavalry would have never reached our army's formation."

Leoheart shoots a sword, hitting a tree trunk a hundred meters away. He quickly resets the handle in less than 3 seconds and shoots again, the arrow hitting its target perfectly. He looks at the crossbow arrow shining in the sunlight, showing an expression of disbelief, but Richardmann takes it back. "Save it. The crossbow is good, but we only have two boxes of arrowheads. It will take some time to restock."

Leoheart suddenly wakes up and asks loudly, "Can this thing supply the army?"

Richardmann signals to a young and handsome young man who runs over, speaking very politely. "Grandfather, is there something you need?"

Richardmann lovingly pets his hair. "Leoheart is interested in the little gadget you brought. Charlie, tell him where you got this crossbow from. Can it be supplied to the army if possible?"

Charlie smiles and takes out two identical crossbows from behind him, directly handing one to Leoheart. After hesitating for a moment, Leoheart accepts the crossbow and the quiver. After trying it just now, he found it to be extremely useful. No wonder the old marshal doesn't use longbows anymore.

"Hello, Uncle Leoheart. By the way, the soldiers under your command were the ones who made this thing. It's called Rodney Scott."

Leoheart thinks for a moment and smiles as he nods. "Rodney, I remember him. He was strong and his arrows were always accurate. He even became a squadron leader on the battlefield. But he was too stubborn. With his military achievements, being enfeoffed in the south would've been no problem. But who would have thought that he would anger the Laurentis family? As a result, a perfectly fine baron was exiled to the farthest north of the empire. Ah, this crossbow was made by him?"

"To be precise, it was made by his son. However, Rodney used this crossbow to shoot and kill a Magical Beast giant bear."

Upon hearing this news, not only Leoheart, but even Richardmann's eyes shimmer with excitement. "What did you say? He killed a Magical Beast giant bear?"