CP 12

He summoned painters and their apprentices, forcing them to draw appearance sketches until they were exhausted. Dozens of drawings were prepared in a single day. Mikhail handed these sketches to men who had been placed on standby and dispatched them to each port. Excluding ports that were too far from the lower reaches of the river where Chaika had traveled by boat, and those far removed from Lucius's estate, there were only three practical candidates.

Less than half a day after the knights departed to search for the physician using the appearance sketches, a group of knights lined up on horseback at the outer castle. They were twenty seasoned knights, all rich in combat experience, who had been pre-arranged in preparation for a clash with Prince Wang Ruslan. They were highly excited, claiming that they finally had a chance to fight an enemy after a long time.

Mikhail and Ilya also mounted their horses, swords strapped to their waists. The warhorses, sensing they would soon be running with abandon for the first time in a while, snorted in excitement.