Knight and Wand

Chapter 240: The Alliance of Nobles and Dumbledore

The eastern border of Kantardar.

Western Bardim County.

The military camps stretched out, countless flags fluttered in the gloomy wind, and soldiers carrying spears patrolled back and forth.

A meeting uniting many lord families in the east is taking place in the castle in the rear.

Located behind the moat, in the fortress belonging to Count Runaf, lords of all sizes from the Eastern Territory gathered here.

At the long table in the hall, the nobles were having a heated argument with each other.

At a glance, there were many young lords under the age of thirty in the hall, and a considerable number of them were around twenty years old. Behind them were the emblems of large families.

Even though there are a few middle-aged nobles, the older ones don’t seem to have much say and are just a few small lords.

"Why not respond to the invitation of the Border Earl? Whose army among us can be more powerful than that of Earl Mamor?" The young lord who was closer to the north of the East Border asked back.

Across the long table, another young baron snorted, "Half of Mamor County has been lost. He asked us to come over just to get our soldiers to help him take back the territory. How could he be so kind as to send troops to help us resist the undead?"

At this time, a Southeastern Lord leaning on a chair said quietly, "In terms of the strength of the army, it would be better to simply go to the Duke of Aberle in the south. I say, maybe soon, we will call him His Majesty Aberle."

"Just think about that treasonous bastard. There are so many soldiers on the Eastern Expedition in the zombie army in the east. Maybe he is the one who coveted the throne. He must have used witchcraft to kill King Aviut and the generals. Otherwise, how could the Eastern Expedition army listen to him? He must pay for my father's life!" The young lord who spoke first was furious.

"That's your business. What does it have to do with us? Besides, if these zombies created by the Duke of Aberle really join him, then we don't have to worry about being attacked by those devils." The noble from the southern region sneered.

Listening to the quarrel that had been going on for several days, Ivan, who was sitting in the corner, rubbed his forehead and felt a headache.

After the Eastern Expedition was withdrawn, a large number of prestigious nobles in the Eastern Territory disappeared for a long time. Without a leader, the families that were already full of conflicts continued to quarrel. Now, after many young new lords hastily succeeded to the throne, facing the impending disaster, they have not been able to reach any decent consensus or strategy.

The door opened and a dusty noble messenger rushed into the hall, finally bringing news from Usato.

The envoy who had previously asked for help from the Aberle army told everyone present about the great battle between the North and the South in Usato, and the lords quarreled even more fiercely.

"I said that the despicable old guy would never accomplish anything! Now that His Highness Casso has ascended the throne and repelled Aberle's rebels, the kingdom can finally put order." Upon hearing that Aberle's army had been defeated and withdrawn from Usato to the Principality in the south of the mountain, the young lord, whose family had been loyal to the royal family for generations, could not help but gloat over their misfortune.

But there were also people who disagreed at the table: "Ha~te! His Highness Kaso allowed the Orland army to march south. He abandoned his honor and joined the foreign enemy. What qualifications does he have to be the king of Kantardar?"

"It's just a stopgap measure to manipulate the evil tiger to devour the evil wolf. Without the help of the Orland people, Your Highness Kaso is isolated and trapped in the Usato Mountain Pass. How can he repel the rebels of Aberle? You are so courageous, why don't you go and repel the army of Ledwin?"

"You are good at making excuses for His Highness Ka Suo, but I haven't seen you, a loyal dog, leading the army west to defend the king, have you?"

"There is no news of my father and his soldiers. I am afraid they have been killed by Aberle. Where can we get the troops to go to Usato?"

The original discussion turned into tit-for-tat insults, and the boiling sound became more and more intense. Several middle-aged lords held their foreheads, unable to bear to see these young people in high positions and extremely restless.

A silver cup was smashed hard onto the long table, rolling with a clang, spilling wine all over the table.

"It's been so many days, haven't you guys quarreled enough?"

The new Earl Runaf, who was also less than 30 years old, glanced at the quarreling people and said, "Look at yourselves, do you look like a bunch of drunkards? I called you all together to defend our territory. Now two-thirds of Baldim County has become a land of the dead in eternal night. If you continue to quarrel, that will be the future of your territories! Do you want to quarrel until you are in a pile of dead bodies?"

The anger of several young men who had been holding grudges against each other had not subsided, but they remained a little calm. They did not speak and sat back in their chairs heavily.

Being in the territory of the Runaf family, they would not fall out with their hosts.

Count Runaf looked at the Baron of Shatai City who had lost his family's territory and came to seek refuge with all his soldiers, civilians and wealth, and hinted: "Sir Ivan, you were the first to send out the message to warn everyone. Shatai City is also the only city that has repelled the army of the undead. Why do you remain silent? Tell me what you think."

When Ivan heard this, he had no choice but to stand up with a frown and look at the lords at the long table with different expressions.

The nobles in the rear, whose territories had not yet encountered the undead army, had solemn expressions, but they obviously had not yet felt the imminent catastrophe.

But at this moment, there are many frontier lords at the table who, like him, have lost the land that their families have ruled for many years, as well as nobles who have seen the dark clouds approaching.

"Earl Mamor is unwilling to send troops. Duke Aberle's duchy is in the southeast and will soon face the invasion of the undead army. Now he has suffered a great defeat in Usato and lost many soldiers and generals. He will not and has no spare energy to send troops to support us.

Prince Casso could hardly protect himself, and the Falcon family and the western nobles were far away and could not be relied upon.

So I have an idea. With a powerful enemy at hand, we might as well put aside our grievances with the Orlanders and follow His Highness Casso's example to ask for help from the Northern Kingdom. They are now occupying the northern border, and the spread of the plague of the undead will also threaten their interests. As long as we open the road to them and ensure the safe arrival of their troops," Ivan proposed a third plan according to the rhetoric he had discussed with the earl.

But before he could finish his words, a disdainful snort sounded from the table: "You want us to follow His Highness Ka Suo's example and betray our country and surrender to the enemy?"

"Sir, now that I can't wait for Wang Ying, the earth is in turmoil everywhere, with internal and external troubles, and we are in danger of our future. What's the point of talking about treason?" Ivan said with a wry smile.

“Besides, whose country is being rebelled against? Who controls Kantadar now? Who is our monarch?
The Duke of Aberle?

Or Count Marmor?
Or Prince Casso?
Even the Count of Falcon in the far west?

Who among them can now represent Kantadar and gather forces to rescue the east?"

Following Ivan's questioning, the nobles at the table fell silent.

"My lords, since the great changes in the Eastern Expedition, when His Majesty Avilut and the other lords disappeared, the kingdom has been torn apart! Now that there is no king to help us, we must unite and find a way out.

What if we ask for help from the Orlanders? Are they more vicious than the Uriahs? Not long ago, how many of you didn't have your territory plundered by the Uriahs?

If we were able to hire the Uriahs before, why can’t we hire the Orlanders?”

Seeing that many people at the table still had not let go of their prejudices, Ivan advised: "It is legal for Prince Casso to ascend the throne. Since our king can now ask the northern army to help, why can't we? Who can say that we are betraying?"

"That's easy to say, but why would the Orlanders send troops?"

"Based on the reward we offer," Ivan said, "Once I become a corpse, what good will it be to put all those gold and jewels in my pocket? The treasures looted from Serrian, plus all the wealth accumulated by the Shatai family! My family can take out 40,000 gold coins to hire the Orland army to fight."

Such wealth caused a sudden gasp at the table.

Everyone present knew that Baron Shatai had lost all his territories, but no one expected that he still had such a large sum of money in his hands.

What is even more incomprehensible is that he is willing to lose everything and take a gamble.

Since there is still a huge amount of wealth, it is better to take the guards to the west of the kingdom. As long as you surrender to a great lord, such a large amount of money can obviously buy you a new territory immediately.

All the land has been lost, why are you still staying in the east and fighting with those dead guys?
"Sir Ivan, how can you guarantee that the people of Orland will not take the opportunity to stab us in the back and annex our land?" asked an elderly lord.

"Do they need to stab us in the back? Do you think, sir, that the Northern Kingdom is unaware of the situation we are facing? I have told you many times that the city of Shatai was saved by a Griffin Lord from Orland, and I was able to inform you all. Wouldn't he tell the northern lords about the news?" Ivan asked back.

"While we still have the power to choose, we should negotiate with the northern lords who deserve to establish diplomatic relations as soon as possible. This is worse than being attacked from all sides and having nowhere to retreat."

"Who says there is nowhere to retreat? The worst that can happen is we can retreat back to Usato Territory. Can't the undead still break through the mountain fortress?" A young eastern lord retorted.

Another lord sneered: "Are you stupid? Hasn't Usato Territory also been controlled by the Orland people?"

"Hiss." The Eastern Lord frowned in annoyance and patted his head. How come the kingdom that was thriving a year ago was so precarious all of a sudden?

"From what you said, it seems that you have found a suitable person to seek help from?" Count Runefe and Ivan started to play a duet at the right time.

"That's right. I have had many correspondences with Baron Avalon, who once saved the city of Shatai, and the Thornflower Family to which he is loyal. They now occupy Glade County in the north of the kingdom. Once the undead army invades the west, they will be the first to suffer." Ivan nodded.

"You can give it a try. You talk to them. If the Thorn Flower family is willing to send troops, I can give you another 20,000 gold coins to help you negotiate." Count Runaf took the lead in expressing his intention.

Seeing the biggest lord of Baldim County speak, many eastern nobles in the hall once again fell into whispering. "But Earl Mamor hates northerners. If he sends someone to ask why we colluded with the Orlanders, how will we explain it?" One person asked Earl Runaf.

Runaf slapped the arm of his chair and said angrily, "If Lord Mamor could send troops to rescue us, would we still need to do this? What is there to explain to him?"

In the end, except for a few lords in the southern regions who were more inclined to seek help from the Duke of Aberle, everyone withdrew from the meeting and left.

Most of the eastern nobles accepted this proposal.

Naturally, Runaf proposed a military alliance to unite the families in the East. He then raised a huge amount of money to hire reinforcements, assembled the troops and supplies of various families, and the discussion of each issue was much smoother than before. He gradually became the leader of the group.

After the long meeting was over, the lords temporarily dispersed and Ivan walked out of the castle hall.

Ron, who was dressed in plate armor and had been knighted, followed his lord's footsteps and handed Ivan a clean water bottle.

Ivan took it and moistened his throat, then let out a long sigh in the courtyard behind the castle.

He had never experienced such an occasion before, especially he had to cooperate with Count Runaf and persuade those lords who were unwilling to submit to each other to unite. For a pure warrior not long ago, his performance was inevitably awkward.

Fortunately, most of the people he was facing were nobles of similar age, so Ivan was not too nervous.

He had already had to abandon the land that his ancestors had ruled for hundreds of years, and now he must not let down the tens of thousands of people who had lost their homes.

"From now on, the East will be united as a whole." Runaf, who successfully took over the power to lead the coalition forces, walked towards him. It seemed that his expression finally relaxed a little amid the bad news of the continuous loss of territory.

"But even so, our strength alone is not enough to fight the disaster." Ivan sighed.

Count Runaf nodded to the trustworthy ally in front of him and said, "I hope that the Thorn Flower Family that you contacted can keep their word. We have no other hope."

Mount Usato.

In addition to Ledwin's army, the Orland lords who responded to the call for assembly gradually led their respective troops, withdrew from the territory of Kantadar through the northern mountain pass, and disbanded.

The Battle of Usato did not last longer than the lords' obligatory forty-day service, so the king did not need to pay his ministers any money, but the rewards and spoils brought back still made each family rich.

If we really talk about the side that paid the heaviest price, the losses suffered by Casso and Usato were actually far greater than that of the defeated Aberle.

Including the extra "consumption" after the war. It is obviously a pipe dream to expect the northern army to not harm the rich towns in the territory of Usato. The Orland people are not here to do charity for Casso.

But Ledwin did not want the Kantadar Royal Court under his control to be destroyed, so at least he did not allow the Orland army to burn, kill and loot like the Uriah people.

However, the money, food, and countless valuables that were transported out of the mountain pass in carts were certainly not all captured from the Southern Army.

The huge reward extorted from Casso was enough to make King Usato feel heartbroken.

All the food, wealth, weapons and other things that had been accumulated over the years in the warehouses of the royal city and the royal territory were lost, and only one in ten of the two thousand palace guards were left after the war. For a long time to come, the new king of Kantadar, Casso, will become a puppet in the hands of Ledwin, a veritable vassal, without the slightest qualification to negotiate terms.

Is it worth it for a crown? Leon didn't know, but after learning about the bloodshed caused by the Uriah people in the south, he felt that Casso had a bad heart but did a good thing. Compared with the extortion and robbery of the Orlanders, they were the light of civilization. After all, this world is a mess right now.
As the army of the Thorn Flower family slowly left the Usato Mountains, Leon, protected by his knights, sat in the carriage and looked up at the sky, recalling the "cooperation" reached with Leadwin not long ago.

Agreeing to serve as the court mage, to some extent, although not as glorious as the title of Dusk Blood Guard, still has similar political significance.

After all, they are all close ministers to the king.

The conditions for training a wizard for Ledwin. Thinking about it afterwards, Leon suddenly realized that he was eager to obtain the Moonfall Silver, and still revealed some secrets during the conversation.

From beginning to end, the old dragon never asked himself how to find an apprentice with magical talent.

But since he agreed to the condition, it meant that he admitted that he had a way to find an apprentice.

He had Laura's help in identifying people with gifts, but in this world, other people, apart from witnessing the magical visions that the gifted people unintentionally revealed, were far from having that ability.

The Northern Society used magic equipment to find a needle in a haystack, while I used Miss Lola's "artificial eye Ding Zhen".

Ledwin remained silent and did not explore the matter, but Leon understood that since this guy wanted to have a team of mages loyal to him, he must have tried it privately and could not have been unaware of what this meant.

However, for the Northern Societies that have been passed down for hundreds of years, it is just a matter of luck for professional warlocks to find apprentices in the Western Continent, and it is even more difficult to train them. It is certainly impossible for Ledwin, who has only been on the throne for a dozen years, to make any progress in this regard.

Leon touched his chin and said that he had to be careful when talking to this old man next time. If he wasn't careful, he might touch his underwear.
In order to avoid exposing Laura's existence to outsiders, he felt that he had to build a device in Avalon as soon as possible, similar to the one in the Northern Warlock Fortress, which was used to detect magical talent, as a cover.

Fortunately, although that thing is considered a high-end magic device in the world today, with Lorelit's knowledge and Laura's guidance, it should not be difficult to assemble one with simple functions by yourself. As long as it does not require any key materials that are difficult to obtain.

If he couldn't make it, he could just make a crystal ball like in the novels of his previous life, and add some sound and light effects to make it look real. Anyway, Laura would be there to watch.

Demonic Aura, Stage 3
Thinking about the possibility of recreating some classic scene, Leon smiled slightly.

He was not in a hurry actually. Although he had agreed to Leadwin's conditions, training a spellcaster was not a matter of a day or two. There was also a crisis in the east that needed to be faced, and the other party did not urge him.

What's more, the resources promised by the king are far from being available. At least we have to get the Moon Meteorite Silver first.

When this matter became a task of establishing a "magic institution" for the royal family, his original reward for military exploits was also changed by Redwin in a different form.

The salary became an investment in education, and the royal fiefdom became future support for magical materials and other human and material resources.

Leon didn't feel like he was at a loss, because not only did he get the Moon Meteorite Silver, but the king's reward in the future would just be in a different form.

Once the resources are in hand, as the future Minister of Magic and Headmaster of Magic of the Kingdom of Orland, I can take some advantage of them and enrich myself a little, and it seems that no one can stop me?

This is all Commissioner Leon's spending on magic research and education!
And if Redwin really helps him organize an official wizard group in Orland, the other party seems to be at a greater disadvantage.

Leon somewhat understood why this old dragon was so anxious to break away from its dependence on the Northern Warlock Society in magical matters.

As a ruler, it is natural that he hates powerful forces that are not under his control. Although there are few wizards in the world, the damage caused is still unimaginable as long as the conditions are right. Especially after hearing from other nobles that in the civil war more than ten years ago, after promising victory, the restrictions and constraints on the association were lifted and the support of the warlocks was obtained.

Plague, undead, countless assassinations, with the help of the sorcerers' spells, dealt a cruel and bloody blow to the army of the former "tyrant", deeply shocking the lords of all lands.

This is also the reason why Ledwin later issued the "Anti-Witchcraft Decree" to prohibit warlocks from intervening in internal struggles among the nobles.

Unsurprisingly, he broke his promise to the northern sorcerers, and the new dynasty placed more restrictions on spellcasters than the previous one.

On this issue, except for the three counties of Breden, all other lords of the Northern Kingdom had surprisingly consistent attitudes.

The kingdom's nobles have never been so united on one thing before.

The Warlock Society was of course furious at the nobles' inconsistency.

However, the warlocks had no choice.

For if they do not abide by the restrictions, destruction awaits them.

No matter what the cost, it is not just Orland's huge army and powerful knights who can destroy the Warlock Society in this land.

As long as the kingdom would just relax its stance and allow it, Leon knew that the Holy Sun Church would be very willing to go to Orland to capture people and send all those spellcasters who were not under surveillance into the church's magic circle to chant.

Despite such restrictions and suppression, it seems that Redwin is still unwilling to have only the Warlock Society as an option when it comes to magic.

Leon felt that he might not expect much loyalty from himself, but at least he could give him another basket to put his eggs in.

(End of this chapter)