Knight and Wand

Chapter 220 Actions of all parties
"You must help me defeat Aberle, and you must keep your promise." Casso gripped the armrest of the chair and gritted his teeth.

He came in person, but was not humiliated as he had expected. Ledwin still gave him a chair in the military tent and talked to him as a king.

But that was the extent of the courtesy that Redwen could bestow upon a king.

He looked at the young man in front of him with sharp eyes: "Nothing is necessary. I have never made any promises to you."

"I handed over the mountain pass that allowed you to enter and exit the royal territory freely, allowing Orland's army to step into the forbidden area that has never been set foot in the past thousands of years. Isn't that enough?" Casso asked.

King Orland remained unmoved: "Yes, now that magnificent pass belongs to me, but this is only the condition for my meeting with you. It is indeed not enough for me to use the blood of the Orland people to protect your throne."

"But I have given you everything, my dignity, my submission, and now even my life is in your hands. What else do you want?" Casso said excitedly.

Ledwin shook his head, not wanting to be fooled. "Your dignity is worthless to me, but you still have a big city, soldiers guarding the city, loyal guards, residents in the city, food and wealth. Do you think you can sit in the palace and watch me fight with your uncle?"

Casso understood and asked in a deep voice: "You want my army? How many?"

"All of the palace guards, plus at least four thousand soldiers, will leave the city to be deployed, and my warriors will take over your royal city." Ledwin replied.

"Impossible!! You might as well kill me now!" Casso said angrily.

"What's the point of killing you?"

Ledwin waved his hand, and the guard beside him immediately handed Aberle's secret letter to Casso.

"You can refuse me, then it's also good for me to accept your uncle's proposal."

The young new king of Kantadar snatched the letter and quickly scanned its contents.

He raised his head and sneered sarcastically: "Do you believe my uncle's lies?"

Ledwin remained noncommittal: "I don't believe it, but so what? If I withdraw to the mountain pass to avoid this meaningless bloody battle, I can save the precious lives of countless soldiers. At that time, Orland can still use these warriors to get everything he has won, and divide the new north and south territories with Mount Usato as the boundary."

The vast tracts of territory swallowed up from the northern border of Kantadar alone have already filled the lords of Orlande to their limit, and no matter how big their appetites are, they cannot digest it all in a short period of time.

This sudden large-scale war lasted for more than two months. Without sufficient advance preparation, the burden of food and fodder consumption was staggering. Even if the army wanted to fight to support the war, the people of Kantadar, who had been ravaged by Aviut's eastern expedition last year, had long been overwhelmed.

The purpose of his southern expedition was to break the political pressure at home by conquering new territories. If he turned the new land into a scorched earth with no grass growing, it would be counterproductive.

If it weren't for this unexpected opportunity, Ledwin would have considered stopping as soon as possible to stabilize the current situation.

An atmosphere of silence permeated the military tent.

He did not urge the desperate young king. After all, it was only a matter of time before this gambler, who had already lost 90% of his fortune, put his last chip on the table.

Finally, the new king of Kantardar surrendered.

Casso made his final concession. He had no choice.

Orland might have retained his throne for the sake of easier rule and the virtual division of the southern kingdom.

But once Aberle attacks the royal city, all family members including him and his father's bloodline will be killed without a single one left alive.

In response to the request to assemble all the troops out of the city to accept command, Casso got up and left.

Ledwin looked at the other man's back and spoke again: "Don't worry, my soldiers will not set foot in the palace after taking over the city, and your family will also be treated with courtesy. What I want is the submission of the Kantadar court, not a group of worthless slaves."

"." Ka Suo stopped and looked back at the old dragon who had given him the last bit of dignity. He could only say in a deep voice: "I only hope that you will keep your promise."

When the new king of Kantadar left the tent, Ledwin's attendant couldn't help but ask the king, "Are you just going to let him go so easily, Your Majesty?"

"If I don't let him go back, will keeping him here waste my military rations?" Ledwin didn't care.

"I believe there must be many Kantadar nobles in the city who would rather join Aberle than us and Kaso. Only by keeping Kaso alive can we control the courtiers in the huge royal city. Now I just want to control this royal city without bloodshed."

However, even if he controlled the Kantadar Royal Court, Ledwin did not intend to fight to the death with the Duke of Aberle.

Regardless of whether his army could defeat the enemy, there was no need for him to help this kid Casso quell the rebellion.

If we really want to destroy Abel, who claims to command an army of 100,000, no matter how exaggerated the nominal size of the enemy's army is, this war will become a quagmire that is difficult to escape.

It would be just right for Kantadar to remain divided in the future, while he holds the legal bloodline of the Southern King and indirectly controls the Kingdom of Usato.

But the Duke of Aberle, who provoked the civil war, would definitely not cooperate with him.

The only way is to take advantage of the current momentum of the southern expedition and win a victory, making the enemy pay the price in blood and retreat.

Seeing Casso's back disappearing at the end of the road to the big tent, Ledwin couldn't help but have ambitions for the future when the southern land would be completely tamed.

He will become the monarch of Orland who will make the king of the south bow down.

He suddenly recalled the ancestral era described in the well-preserved ancient books of the Drakmar family, especially the true "King of Kings" who made all races submit, was above all kings, and ruled over all the people on the continent.

An ancient term, "King of Dharma".

That is also the origin of the ancient title "emperor" in the Feru language.

Thinking of the supreme authority that even the founding monarch, the Twilight Knight who established Kronia, had to be loyal to and serve.

This sudden surge of emotion took Leadwin a long time to suppress the pride that had been dormant for many years.

Shaking his head, he knew it was too far-fetched and unrealistic.

If he can take advantage of this opportunity to eliminate the threat posed by the Southern Kingdom during his lifetime, he will be able to rival the ancient ruler who unified the North.

People will record themselves by their great feat of completely defeating Kantadar, and will no longer care about their deeds of taking the throne from their cousin.

While thinking about it, he felt as if he had put down a burden he had been carrying for many years. Ledwin felt relaxed. After all the generals gathered for the military meeting, he handed over the task of taking over the Royal City of Kantadar to the troops he trusted most.

While he was arranging the deployment of his troops, a guard outside the tent reported that another group of envoys were eager to see him.

Ledwin stopped discussing and looked up from the makeshift sand table. He felt that even the days in the royal capital of Orlandon were not as lively as the front line these days.

First, the leaders of the Thorn Flower asked for a meeting, then the envoy of Abelmi asked for a meeting. I had just met the new king of Kantadar, so where did this group of envoys come from?
"Where did they come from?" asked Ledwin.

"Those knights who landed outside the camp on griffins were wearing the attire of the Holy Sun Church. They claimed to be from the Kingdom of Dineshien and were representing the Holy Throne and were on an important mission to various kingdoms." The guard replied.

"Holy Sun Church?" Ledwin was surprised.

Although Orland borders the two Holy Sun Cult kingdoms of Serrian and Dinethin, and the relationship between them is not cold, but for many years, apart from limited border trade, there has not been much official communication between Orland and the church.

Especially in history, having witnessed how the Holy Sun Church seized power from the Royal Family of Dineshien, the previous kings of the Northern Kingdom were particularly wary of this huge religion that almost controlled the faith of 90% of the Feru people.

The kingdom has always suppressed the spread of the Holy Sun faith, both openly and covertly. So to this day, except for a few trade areas on the eastern border and some nobles, there are still not many Holy Sun believers in Orland. The traditional ancestor worship of Feru and the belief in the ancient Feru gods are still the mainstream.

Regarding the holy prophet who is the incarnation of the Holy Sun in the church's mythology,
Although the kings of Orlando did not want to offend the church, which was particularly powerful among the Feru countries, and did not say it publicly, through the ancient books passed down for thousands of years in the Orlando Palace, it was known that Redwen and countless previous kings were not impressed by the myths of the church.

They do not deny the greatness of the legendary ancient saint king, but they also do not think that he represents a god.

After all, the founding monarch of Kronia had served Ilaril personally as his personal guard, and the ancestral precepts left by the Twilight Knight Gelven also clearly denied that the lord whom he worshipped so much was the incarnation of a god.

Compared to the myths spread by the church, Ledwin and countless kings of Orland before him believed more in the black and white writings left by their ancestors.

Of course, no matter what attitude he holds towards the church's statement, as a powerful force that has unified the beliefs of the eight Feru Kingdoms on the continent, Ledwin knows that he cannot easily neglect the other party.

"Let the followers of Holy Sun come in."

After a journey of several days, the lords who came to help said goodbye to the people of the Thorn Flower Family halfway and left one after another.

Although this trip to advise the king was fruitless, at least with their help, the news of the disaster in the east could be spread among the Orland nobles as quickly as possible.

No matter how many people may believe it, the northern lords were eventually forewarned.

Leon hurried back to Glade County with Elif to participate in the military meeting of the lords within the Farolis family.

The two major events at hand require everyone in the family to focus on preparing for war.

After taking over the new territory for several months, the Thorn Flower family has been able to harvest this year's summer crops, as Glade County was not too devastated by the war. Next month, they will also be able to harvest autumn crops in some areas, which will alleviate the excessive consumption of the Thorn Flower Territory caused by the previous war.

Elifer immediately issued a mobilization order to all the barons to intensify the training of the young and strong men in the territory.

Regardless of the cost, we must make sure that the farmers in each territory put down their farm tools and pick up spears so that they can form a basic battle line.

Even if the funds at hand of the lords are not enough to support a large-scale army, if a real disaster strikes, people who have to defend their territory in order to survive will not consider anything else.

At the very least, teach everyone who can handle a weapon how to fight.

".Under that dark cloud, the ghouls are more ferocious than those you have seen in the Nightmare Forest.
Bows and crossbows have limited killing effect on them
In addition to the most common zombies, and the armored ghoul warriors who were soldiers or knights in their lifetime, there are also some bat-like zombies that seem to have twisted limbs sewn together. There are two sizes, the small one is only the size of a human, and the large one is bigger than a working ox. They can fly up to the city wall and fly over the heads of the soldiers.
Semi-solid ghosts are the most difficult to deal with. Magic can kill them, and fire also has a certain effect, but it is difficult to disperse them with ordinary swords. Right now, apart from recruiting spellcasters to join the army, I don’t have any better solution.

In addition, once you encounter an army of undead, you must find the wizard who controls them as soon as possible, as well as the witchcraft altar that is carried by the corpses of the undead."

Leon carefully imparted his experience in dealing with the undead to the lords at the meeting and reminded them of the types of undead they had seen.

"Also, we need to find and burn as many bodies as possible within the territory."

"Burning the dead in the cemetery? Isn't this too blasphemous to our ancestors?" said a baron.

"Will it not be a desecration if the remains of our ancestors are possessed by evil spirits and they crawl out of the graves? If you really don't want to burn them, you can seal each coffin with an iron cage or bury it to a depth where the ghosts can't crawl out." Elliver looked at him and "suggested".

Everyone was speechless. The method the lord proposed was fine for one or two, but if there were more, no one could afford the waste of manpower and resources. However, digging a deep hole was feasible.

After discussing how to resist the threat of the undead, Elifer immediately announced that he would assemble two thousand family troops within half a month to respond to the king's decree.

After the meeting, Elliver stood on the terrace of the castle, watching the vassals who were half-believing and half-doubting the undead disaster rushing back to their territories one after another.

He felt increasingly heavy-hearted. Judging from the map, if the dark cloud area that Leon mentioned completely engulfed the eastern part of Kantadar, the first to suffer would be the Thorn Flower Family that had just acquired Glade County.

Earlliver did feel some regret.

If time could go back a few months, if he had known the news earlier, he might have changed his plan and attacked the county lord in the west, and simply gave the location of Glade County to the Gunnar family.

Looking at his father who was in a state of deep thought, Fyodor could not help but ask, "Father, do you really believe in the one-sided words of Sir Pendragon?"

When Elifer heard his eldest son's doubts, he turned around and looked at him. After thinking for a while, he patiently explained, "I do trust Leon, but do you think I would call on so many allies and mobilize the entire country just because I trust someone's words?"

After saying that, he pointed to the cabinet in the room and said, "The third drawer, go and take a look."

Fyodor followed the instructions and opened the wooden cabinet where his father stored his letters in confusion.

After seeing the contents of several letters, he turned around in surprise and asked, "When did you send so many people to the east to investigate?"

"It was the night that Leon came to report the news." Elliver turned and walked back into the room.

Feodor was surprised and asked, "Why are you so silent?"

The Lord of Thorns came to his son and patted his shoulder: "Even you feel that I trust you to the utmost, so how does Leon feel about me?
Feodor, as a monarch, your attitude and what you actually do do do not need to be entangled with each other like vines.

Necessary caution and vigilance will not conflict with your sincerity towards others. The difference lies in how you show it. "

"But you have always loved Lord Pendragon so much. If this continues, won't it cause dissatisfaction among other vassals in the family?" Feodor asked puzzledly.

"If there really is such a narrow-minded person among the ministers, and he feels dissatisfied, who is he dissatisfied with?" Elifer stared straight into the eyes of his eldest son, silently regretting in his heart that this thought, which should have been generated by the vassal and could be handled by the monarch, now appeared in the eldest son who was the next monarch, which was the most inappropriate thing.

"This..." Feodor hesitated.

"My child, some things can help people when they are on the front side, but can kill people when they are on the back side. It all depends on when and if you want to use it. When you need to use it, there are many swords. Use the sword on your waist instead of the dirtiest one on the ground."

Elifer looked at his eldest son who had an inexplicable prejudice against Leon, and said helplessly: "I tell you this because I hope you understand that scheming can be used to whip a fox who doesn't know the limits, but in front of a smart lion, putting on a scheming and vulgar mask will only make you farther and farther away from the people who should love you."

With a lot of thoughts in his mind, Leon returned to Avalon Castle from Archers City. It was already dark.

He returned to the fortress, washed up, and went to his lord's bedroom and turned the handle.

As expected, the door was locked. Olivia must have gone to bed already.

Unable to bear the thought of knocking on the door and disturbing his lover who had been taking care of his affairs for the past few days, he turned around and prepared to find a guest room to rest for the night.

However, the girl in the room was worried about important matters and slept very lightly, so she still heard the noise outside the door.

"Leon!" Recognizing the familiar footsteps, Olivia hurriedly ran out of bed barefoot, opened the door and called out.

"Did I wake you up?" Leon asked helplessly.

"I wasn't asleep in the first place." The girl shook her head, not caring at all, with a look of relief on her face: "Luckily you're back, I didn't know what to do."

"What's wrong?" Leon asked curiously.

"That dwarf uncle named Hem, he is back, and he brought some dwarf uncles I have never seen before. He said he is here to pick up Master Adya and the others." Olivia has a good memory. She is sure that the bearded men beside Hem are not among the dozens of ancient dwarves.

"A dwarf I've never seen before? Take him away? Where to?" Leon was stunned.

(End of this chapter)