Knight and Wand

Chapter 216: Military expansion and preparation for war
In the corridor leading to the conference room, Elliver said as he walked, "I thought you were dissatisfied with the profit sharing we discussed before, so you came here to discuss it again. Now it seems that there is something else going on."

".Share?" Leon, who was following Feng Jun, couldn't help but wonder.

Elliver turned his head and said, "Yes, didn't you send Azerien to bring people to Archers to discuss the iron ore?"

Leon suddenly realized and explained, "I have been away for nearly half a month and just came back. I haven't returned to Avalon yet. All matters in the territory are now managed by Azerien."

Hearing this, Elifer smiled and said, "Oh, then you can rest assured. This guy is respectful, but he won't give in when it comes to money at the negotiation table. Even I, the lord, didn't get any advantage from him. You and I will split the money 40% and 60%, and conservatively speaking, you will have an income of more than 4,000 gold crowns every year in the future."

How much?! Leon raised his eyebrows in surprise.

He knew that the iron ore was of great value, but this much profit was only 40% of the income. According to statistical estimates, even if his barony collected the theoretical taxes in full, it would not have that much money.
The castle servant opened the door of the conference room for the two of them. Elliver entered and motioned for Leon to sit at the table.

Count Thornflower thought of the iron mine and asked, "By the way, I've heard that the craftsmanship of dwarven craftsmen is extraordinary. They haven't been seen in Orland for hundreds of years. I want to find the dwarven masters in your city to customize some high-grade plate armor and weapons. I wonder if it will affect your arrangements for them?"

Leon shook his head quickly: "You can send someone to order weapons from Master Adya. You don't need to ask for my opinion. They are not my employees. I just rented the workshop in Avalon Castle for them to use."

Leon wanted to make friends with these dwarf craftsmen with extraordinary skills, so he naturally did not force them to become servants of his own power. Otherwise, if the dwarves were angered and left, they would find another place to settle down. If the people of "Silver Mountain City" knew that dwarves came to the Kingdom of Orland again after hundreds of years, they would probably rush to welcome these ancestors and make them guests of honor in the City of Craftsmen.

The nine dwarves who stayed in Avalon Castle are now recorded under the name of "Edel Guild". They are an independent group of craftsmen, not subordinates who obey him. Leon does not stop these short uncles from taking external orders. Anyway, while they make money, they will also bring themselves a lot of tax revenue.

"I see. But even you don't know where the dwarf delegation that helped you explore the ancient mines went?" Elifer asked curiously again.

Lion told the world a half-truth: "I only heard them say they were heading north, and it seemed they wanted to reach the mountains north of Orland, perhaps to visit other dwarven kingdoms."

"It turns out that the ancient legend that there is a dwarf kingdom in the barren mountains in the north of Orland is actually true."

Elifer sighed: "It's a pity that the dwarf delegation didn't pass through Achesburg, otherwise I would like to entertain them well. It would be even better if they could contact the legendary dwarf kingdom."

After saying that, he waved his hand and said, "Okay, let's talk about it at the dinner. What did you come here in such a hurry to tell me?"

Leon immediately said, "It's a long story, sir. Eight days ago, I flew to the east on the griffin, wanting to see how my hometown, which had fallen into the hands of the Kantardars, was doing. But halfway through, I encountered an area covered by dark clouds."

After carefully reporting the disaster and its severity, Leon continued, "The situation in the east is very serious right now, and the cause of this disaster is most likely the Atias Empire wizards who instigated Kantadar to invade Serian from the east."

He described the trip in as much detail as possible, omitting unnecessary details and Laura's magical knowledge in analysis, and only discussed the true situation he investigated in an inferential tone.

Elifer listened attentively halfway through, and could not help but stand up and spread out the huge map of the Western Continent. He looked at it seriously from time to time, and paced back and forth in thought.

After pondering for a long time, Count Thorn Flower sighed and looked at Leon with a wry smile.

"It seems like every time you come to see me, you always give me news that is unexpected and beyond my imagination, Leon. I don't know whether I should cry or laugh now. If this horrifying thing didn't come from you, I would never believe it at all."

Hundreds of thousands, millions or even more zombies are sweeping across the land. Even a drunk in a tavern would not utter such outrageous words.

Elliver recalled what he had learned about the population size of the kingdom when he was young in the city of scholars "Brillance".

Even if all the lords in Orland drained their wealth and united as one, how many troops could they organize across the country?
Two hundred thousand? Three hundred thousand? What kind of earth-shattering war would that be?
Even in the bloody civil war for the throne more than ten years ago, the Eastern and Western factions combined had only a total of hundreds of thousands of troops fighting each other.

As for the millions of enemies he might face now, Elliver felt that it was beyond his imagination. He could not estimate it, and he never thought that the world could organize and support an army of one million.

But the sea of ​​undead that Leon mentioned at this moment did not require supplies or maintenance costs. The only thing that limited their size was the number of souls and corpses.

Is this a divine disaster sent by the God of Death to the mortal world to punish mankind?
Elifuer felt the summer air he breathed was a little colder.

Seeing the unbelievable expression on Lord Feng's face, Leon quickly said, "My lord, what I said is not false. You can send a trusted warrior to the eastern border of Kantadar to find out what happened. I am willing to take him there on a griffin. The soldiers and civilians of Shatai City who suffered the disaster can also testify for me."

"That's not necessary. You are the warrior I trust the most." After coming to his senses, Earl waved his hand at Leon, "I also believe that you will never joke about such an important matter."

After saying this, he could not help but knock on the table and said angrily: "It's the Atias again! The conspiracy to murder my wife has not yet been settled with them, and these damn foreign wizards have committed such a heinous crime that is intolerable to heaven. If millions of lives are to suffer this misfortune, they will not be able to atone for this sin even if they go to the hell of Vinolis to be punished for eternity!"

Leon said quickly: "We must report to His Majesty Ledwin as soon as possible. Such a big crisis should not be borne by the Farolis family alone."

"Of course." Elifer nodded and sighed, "It's just that, given the current situation, it's really difficult to get the king to stop his southern expedition, end the war as soon as possible, and deal with this disaster.

The army of the 'Old Dragon' is now unstoppable. It is said that the kingdom's army has already reached the foot of Mount Usato and is about to conquer the mountain pass and march into the territory of the King of Kantadar. It would be a shame if the king were to stop at this time."

Leon frowned and said, "In the face of a disaster, if we cannot stop that area from completely devouring the eastern part of Kantadar, when the scale of the corpse ghosts grows to an unimaginable scale, then no matter how much Kantadar land Orland conquers, it will be meaningless. Even the original territory in the north will be ravaged by this disaster."

"The difficulty lies in the fact that His Majesty Ledwin will never trust the information we provide as easily as I trust you, let alone end the war that is in full swing.

I just hope he is willing to send spies to the east of Kantadar to confirm the situation." Elliver said helplessly.

He also seemed to understand why the Kingdom of Kantadar, which should have a fierce army, was still in a state of disarray and was completely defeated when facing Orland.

Since this terrible disaster was caused by their original invasion of Serrian in the east, now, I am afraid that some great changes have occurred within Kantardar, so that until now, no ruler has stood up to organize the overall situation to resist Orland's southward advance.

"In any case, we must strengthen the defense and armaments of the entire county from now on. However, before going to the front line to meet the king, I will send someone to invite Count Rahman, Baron Anquila and other lords to come to Archers to discuss this matter." Elliver thought about the traditional allies that the Farolis family could contact, and even thought of a past enemy.

He then asked Leon: "And the city of Shatai, where is that town located in the east of Kantadar? Give me the detailed location. Those Kantadar people have received favors from you and can now become our helpers."

Leon quickly took out the map Ivan gave him and checked the location.

The king and his minister discussed in the conference room for a long time before they ended their discussion.

"I know you are eager to go home. Since you have encountered such a big incident, I will not let you attend the dinner. Go to my stable to pick a fast horse and hurry back to Avalon."

"Thank you for your understanding, sir." Leon stood up, not forgetting to salute this time. He was indeed in a hurry to go back and didn't want to delay outside. Elliver stood up and patted Leon on the shoulder. "Take good care of the territory and military affairs. Once I have made preparations, I will send someone to inform you to follow me south to meet the king at the front line."

Borrowing a handsome noble warhorse from the castle lord's stable, Leon rode at full speed back to the valley of Avalon.

The sky was just beginning to darken as we entered the city.

Finally arriving at his own territory, his tense mind gradually relaxed.

First go to the Mage Tower and let Laura appear.

Seeing that the young teacher didn't say much and quickly walked to the workshop to deduce the strange magic, Leon didn't dare to disturb him and hurried back to the main castle to call a meeting of the senior members of the Knights Templar.

With the help of Corvis, Leon took off the three layers of heavy knight armor inside and outside the room. He held his shoulders and took a long breath. He looked at his partner beside him and said, "Akao, have you tamed the eagle during the time I was away?"

Corvis asked the servants to move the armor away, and turned around to answer, "Well, 'Xiao An' is willing to fly with me. Although it will take some time to cultivate trust before re-imposing the contract, it is not a problem for normal riding trips. It was raised in captivity by Pilieno, and it still remembers me, so it is not that resistant."

"Then thank you for your help. I will need you to help Avalon deliver letters and messages to many places in the future."

"It's no trouble. It's my honor to help you all." The boy smiled.

"By the way, have you seen the child we brought back this time?" Leon asked.

Corvis thought of the skinny boy and nodded, "I just saw him. Olivia seems to have arranged for him to live in the dormitory of the college."

"That child has a talent for learning magic. It was discovered by Laura. I plan to let him learn magic from you. What do you think? Are you willing to accept him as an apprentice?" Leon suggested as he changed into his casual clothes and took him to the lord's hall.

Corvis followed behind with some hesitation: "Should I teach him? If it's just for guidance, then there's no problem, but I'm still far from being a proper mage."

"It's enough to be able to get started. Now the child still has to start with basic cultural subjects such as writing and mathematics. I don't know how long it will take before he can learn more advanced magical knowledge. By that time, you will probably have become a proper wizard." Leon said with certainty.

While talking, the two walked into the hall.

Leon looked up at the coats of arms hanging around the walls of the palace. It seemed that during the time he was away, the newly-crowned Knights of Avalon had already made their own coat of arms flags.

Currently, there are himself, Azerien, Lohak, and the first four Thorn Flower Knights who joined the Knights Temperance.

Olivia's blue flag with a golden lion, Corvis's white flag with a red eagle, Brian's gray flag with a broken sword, and the various emblems of Hawke, Zabron and others have been hung in the hall.

Walking past more than a dozen banners representing the heraldry of the Knights Templar, Leon inexplicably felt a sense of accomplishment as if he had collected cards.

Of course, these are far from enough to fill the hall at the moment, but in the future, it will be more than enough to accommodate hundreds of flags.

Looking away from above, Leon saw that Olivia, who had just washed up and changed into a white shirt and blue skirt, had arrived. Azerien and Lohak had also been sitting on chairs waiting.

Right now, they are the five people with the most power at the core of Avalon. Not only because of their respective identities and positions in the Knights Templar, but they are also the ones who know the existence of Laura and the Mage Tower.

He quickened his pace and sat down with Corvis. Together with Olivia, he told everyone what he had seen and heard.

After the story was over, the hall fell silent for a moment. Azerien and Lohak frowned, neither of them had ever thought that their hometown might have truly become a "hell".

"We need to expand our army, store food, recruit soldiers, and buy horses. We don't have time to slowly build our territory as we planned before." Leon turned to ask his chief steward about the financial situation: "How much money do we have in the treasury?"

"Counting the taxes worth 1252 gold crowns collected during the previous southern tour with minimal tax reductions, we currently have a total of 5033 gold crowns worth of funds before settling this month's expenses." Azerien replied immediately.

The Grand Steward of the Knights continued to report on the current financial situation of the territory: "Currently, the salaries of knights and officials, military maintenance costs, servants' salaries, and all other expenses in the barony are about 393 gold coins per month."

"What is the estimated territory income for next year?" Leon remembered what Lord Feng had said before, that the profits from iron ore mining were divided 40% and 60%.

"If all the territories under the Knights' Order are fully taxed, the annual revenue will be approximately 3756 gold crowns, and the revenue from the Avalon Iron Mine is conservatively estimated to be more than 4000 gold coins."

"Where are the taxes paid by the territory?" Leon asked.

"If there is no harvest failure, the annual output of various staple foods is expected to be about 2835 Aoshi." Azerien replied.

Leon nodded, closed his eyes and quickly calculated, tapped his fingers on the armrest, and came up with a weight of 144 tons.

At the extreme point, it is enough to feed an army of about 2000 people for two months. Of course, as a new lord, he is far from having the capital to organize a standing army of 2000 people, and 500 people is extremely difficult.

"We must fully staff the Knights' army as soon as possible. We can't keep the money we have lying around." Leon set the future direction of government affairs.

"The heavy cavalry team must be expanded to 100 cavalry, the infantry to 300, and the archers to 100."

He was somewhat relieved that the Lord had already dismissed the young and strong men who had been recruited in the Thorn Flower Territory. In his new territory, there were enough Orlando soldiers, and it was easy to recruit 360 qualified soldiers.

However, the "national treasury" that had been filled with great difficulty was not easy and was about to be depleted again due to the need for military horses, armor, weapons, and military pay.

Especially war horses, a strategic resource. It would be okay for a feudal lord to sell himself a dozen horses. If he had more, the family would still be short of them. This thing would never be enough. Leon estimated that, including the spare war horses, he would have to spend a lot of money to buy at least seventy or eighty horses.

But even if it was a minimally qualified military horse, without connections, it would easily be slaughtered by the seller at a price far above the market price. He hoped that Earl Elliver had channels to help him find a suitable seller.

The book will be on the reading guide on the 3rd of next month. The editor said that this is the best recommendation position and a book can only be put on the guide once. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m very happy to be recommended anyway.



(End of this chapter)