Knight and Wand

Chapter 274 Allied Forces Headquarters
Finlaytown.

This important town in Baldim County, which once housed 30,000 citizens and controlled a population of nearly 100,000 in the surrounding area, has now seen the dawn of recovery after becoming a dead city inhabited by zombies.

As the central headquarters of the coalition forces, warriors from Orland, Dineshien, Kantardar, and even Serian are stationed here under the leadership of their commander.

The midday sun shone on the ruined city walls, dispelling the lingering chill of last night. Thousands of soldiers and civilians were walking on the desolate streets after the disaster, and the armored figures gleamed in the sun.

The fire in the blacksmith shop was burning brightly, and the military blacksmiths were swinging their hammers to repair the weapons and armor that were damaged in the battle.

Horse-drawn carriages carrying supplies kept driving into the city gate. The drivers shouted at the horses, which were loaded with food and supplies, and were busy shuttling between the camps.

Only when smoke from cooking rises and the aroma of food fills the barracks, will this city, which has become a giant barracks, begin to retract the solemn and murderous atmosphere that can be seen everywhere.

In the former Finleytown Municipal Residence, Azerien looked at the specific number of supplies in his hand and reported the military supply situation in various places to Leon:

". Including what Earl Longstone recently reported they had found in the south, we now have a total of 51,740 dan of grain.
In terms of consumption, with the recent defection of Earl Sangetan from Mamor County and other nobles from the northern border of Kantadar totaling more than 2,000 people, the coalition forces now need to supply food and fodder for about 14,600 soldiers.

After calculating the consumption of soldiers, livestock, and horses, I think our food and fodder can still supply the entire army for more than a month."

He couldn't help but sigh as he spoke: "The food crisis has been temporarily alleviated, but I think those Kantadar lords must have concealed a lot of information.

The county is so large, and so many people have died in Kantadar. They are now able to collect all the stored grain from the victims from all over the place and concentrate them together. I would not be surprised if the amount of grain is half more.

Especially the Earl of Langstone.

He had been thinking about you leading the army south to help him fight back to Longstone County. I guess the food he found in the Parotico area is far more than what you are talking about now."

Azerien knew that although this land had suffered a series of wars and disasters since last year, Baldim County was, after all, a large county with a population of nearly 700,000.

As the core and wealthy land once controlled by King Kantadar, even after experiencing disasters, with only about one-sixth of the original population left, it can still be said that a lean camel is bigger than a horse.

He remembered his father's teachings that a cruel reality on this continent was that all famines that had broken out in history "ended naturally" after the death toll reached a certain level.

As far as Azerien's memory is concerned, in the historical records of the Kingdom of Serrian, apart from the legendary disasters in ancient mythology, he has never known any war or famine that could be more efficient than the undead disaster they are facing now, which can wipe out the population on earth in large numbers at a rate of hundreds of thousands.

"Let them be. I can't tear my face off and send the quartermaster to check Longstone's food reserves. As long as his troops obey military orders and participate in our plan to march eastward, it will be fine."

Leon looked at the coalition forces' deployment situations in various places on the map and waved to his chief steward.

The coalition was a makeshift team cobbled together, and it was already very difficult for the eastern lords, each with their own thoughts, to obey his orders.

It was normal for them to conceal their gains and secretly keep enough food for their troops to advance and retreat.

He, the so-called commander, was just a leader who was pushed forward after he proved that he could defeat the undead. He was not the monarch that the Kantadar lords were truly loyal to. How could they be honest with him in everything? And he had no time to play political games with these nobles.

If one day he could quell the disaster, he would just pack up and leave.

How these eastern lords, each with their own ulterior motives, would mess around in Baldim County would be a headache for Count Runaf in the future.

Of course, the prerequisite is that there is still a "future" for himself and the Kantardar people here.

Leon's eyes moved to the river outlined on the map.

Not long ago, he took a series of risky boat trips, secretly led his elite troops to bypass large towns and fortresses that were difficult to attack, and took down small strongholds by gradually dividing them up. Then, with the help of Laura's reversal magic, he took down large strongholds one by one.

During the combat operations, he crossed the river diversion channel twice, went downstream in the dark cloud area, and arrived at the border of Kantadar.

At that time, looking at the lifeless land of Serian under the dark sky on the opposite bank, Lion could only sigh at the river.

Looking at the map, as long as he crossed the border river downstream and entered the "Lumansor Territory" of Serian, and then marched just over a hundred kilometers, he would be able to return to the original owner's hometown, the resting place of Laura.

It must be said that with the distance so close, he had thought about leading two thousand elite soldiers alone to see if he could directly rush into Rolandar.

But even without Laura's dissuasion in his heart, Leon still gave up this crazy idea in an instant.

With only 2,000 soldiers, they went deep into the source of the disaster without knowing anything, facing an unknown number of undead and a very likely enemy behind the scenes.

It is indeed like walking into a trap. Not to mention that this is a gamble with a 100% chance of survival, there is no chance of success at all.

Even if the warriors around him created a one in a billion miracle and successfully escorted him and Laura to the Great Temple of Rolandar, in the end no one would survive.

Leon couldn't bear the almost non-existent success rate and the disproportionate sacrifice.

No matter whether it is the companions, comrades-in-arms, or your own life, you cannot waste it so recklessly.

"How is Count Runaf's recruitment going?" Leon looked up and asked Azerien.

"The Baldim family has recruited 6,000 militiamen from the people and is training them on the North Bank."

Leon nodded. He didn't expect the 6,000 militiamen to have much combat effectiveness.

As long as these militias can be stationed in various strongholds to assist in defending the city and patrolling the roads, so that most of the elite troops of various princes can be freed up to gather and go to war, it will be enough.

After taking over many towns and fortress strongholds on the south bank, the battle becomes increasingly difficult as we move eastward. The undead army can go without food, but the living soldiers must eat every day to fight, and the supply routes for food and military supplies must be kept safe.

Now, they have recaptured half of Baldim County, and on the north bank they are publicly executing captured zombies to dispel the fear of the civilians, while at the same time launching a propaganda counterattack against the people to boost public morale.

However, in reality, the coalition forces were stretched thin with more than 10,000 troops, and could only control a few important towns, fortresses and main roads throughout the south bank.

After Laura reversed the altar, there were still a large number of zombie armies that had not been eliminated wandering around in the mountains and countryside of this land that had seen the light of day again.

Every time night falls, there are countless evil ghosts with deep resentment wreaking havoc in the wilderness.

In recent days, there have been unexpected counterattacks of undead corpses in various places. Fortunately, with the help of Corvis and a scorpion knight from Kantadar to transmit military intelligence back and forth, the coalition forces were able to dispatch troops in time to eliminate the invading groups of corpses.

Although the undead individuals wandering in the wild are no longer as ferocious and tough as those in the underworld, they are still threatening to ordinary civilians. The main force of the coalition forces cannot always focus on defending the city and escorting supply teams.

The time is still short and the undead army has not yet reacted to their strange army.

Taking advantage of this time difference, the only way is to march eastward as quickly as possible and establish a defense line as close to Rolandar as possible. Only then can he find a way to gather more troops and fight back to the Holy City.

From the perspective of food consumption and morale, it would be a dead end for the living army to be engaged in a protracted war with the sleepless sea of ​​undead corpses.

Time cannot be wasted. But there is no rush either. Continuous battles have caused more than 2,000 casualties among the coalition forces. The soldiers are now physically and mentally exhausted. Even if they have won consecutive battles and their morale is high, they still need rest.

Leon tapped the location of Kilmerton Pass with his finger and could only put his anxiety aside for the time being.

He looked towards Mamor County, north of Baldim County and in the northern border of Kantadar.

Count Sangetan, who had come to Baldim County not long ago, temporarily joined the coalition forces after seeing that his escape route to the south was blocked by the undead. He also brought the bad news that the undead corpse tide was devouring Mamor County.

However, Leon learned from him that the tens of thousands of troops summoned by Redwin III were already fighting the undead in the occupied area in western Mamor.

The Orland army officially began to fight against the undead, which made Leon feel a little relieved. At least he was not fighting alone.

With the blueprints of the Holy Spirit Guardian Lamp that I contributed, I wonder how many spellcasters Ledwin III can summon from the north to help, how many Holy Lamp can be made, and whether he can build a large-scale soul-fixing facility in the border fortress.
However, while there were a large number of friendly troops in the North, there was no good news in the South.

Thinking of the deathly silence he had seen when he and Corvis had ventured to the south on a Hippogriff to conduct reconnaissance, Leon felt a headache.

If the Duke of Aberle of Kantardar had not provoked a civil war before the Undead march, Leon would have been willing to accept the fact that he had to join forces with the Eastern Expedition Army that had invaded Serian to fight against the Undead Scourge in order to resolve the main conflict.

However, for the sake of power, the army of the living had an internal conflict before facing the army of the dead.

Leon didn't know whether the southern rebels of Kantadar, after their defeat in Usato, could still hold back this endless sea of ​​corpses.

Putting aside his worries about the south, he leaned back in his chair and thought about how to continue his march eastward after the two thousand reinforcements from Feng Jun arrived and he finished resting the coalition forces.
"My Lord." The guard knight Zabron knocked on the door and reported, "Lady Olivia is back."

Upon hearing this, Leon immediately stood up, walked out of the room with Azerien, and came to greet them outside the mansion. In the yard, the knight girl in silver armor and gray robes got off the saddle, handed the reins to Treya to lead to the stable, and walked towards Leon quickly with her armor clanging.

"Are there any soldiers injured?" Leon asked.

As the supreme commander, the change in position required him to try his best to leave the occasional enemy situations in the controlled areas to his soldiers to investigate and pacify.

Reality is not a game. There is no need for generals to go around “unclog toilets” or “rescue their kidnapped wives”.

Whether it is Olivia, Lohark, or Lord Irem, Baron Balfe, Greenthorne and other rangers around him, these knights are all excellent generals who can be entrusted with important tasks. Except for major battles, not all battles require him to do it himself.

"Don't worry, we easily wiped out the group of zombies wandering in the valley. The 500 cavalrymen I led out all returned safely without any casualties." Olivia supported her waist with one hand on the hilt of the sword, looking very proud.

After saying that, she couldn't help but move closer, her eyes filled with golden magic light, as if begging for praise.

There was no one here except Azerien. Leon raised his hand and touched the girl's shiny blonde hair. Olivia squinted her eyes in satisfaction as she felt the intimate contact she hadn't felt for a long time.

"As expected of Orlando"

Before Leon finished speaking, Olivia shook her head and interrupted him dissatisfiedly: "Don't call me that weird nickname."

The Lioness of Orlando.

Leon found the girl's reaction amusing. He thought the name was impressive. Fortunately, the girl's emblem was a lion. At least she was not the tigress named Orlando. There were many tigers in the mountains and forests in the south.

This is what the Kantadar knights in the coalition called the girl.

Female knights are rarer than rare animals, let alone a female knight with extraordinary martial arts skills at such a young age.

Any knight or soldier of Kantadar who had seen the little lion in battle could never forget the ferocious scene of the girl wielding her spear and sword, tearing the undead into pieces like a wild beast.

The girl alone crushed the undead on the battlefield, destroying large numbers of them, with an efficiency greater than that of dozens of knights.

If other people were riding and slashing on the battlefield, then Olivia, in Leon's eyes, was simply a warrior.

"I'll go to the barracks to see the others."

Azerien made sure his companions were safe and sound, then left the space to the two of them.

"I'll be here in a minute."

Leon nodded, turned around and pulled Olivia back to their temporary residence in the mansion.

She asked about the battle process and helped the girl take off her armor. During their brief chat, Treia quickly prepared hot water for bathing.

Leon then stood up and said goodbye, planning to go to the Avalon camp to visit the soldiers who had returned.

Just as he reached the door, the girl suddenly caught up with him and grabbed his wrist.

"?" Leon turned around and looked at the girl.

"." Olivia pulled him, her face blushing.

She listened attentively, and only pursed her lips when Thereya gradually walked away in the corridor outside.

The gold in his eyes faded back to clear green because of the embarrassment in his heart.

"Just think of it as a reward for your military exploits, okay? We haven't been together for a long time, and the army is taking a break now. Can you stay here tonight?"

Olivia lowered her head and her voice became quieter.

The girl understood the other party's consideration of keeping a distance from her in the army.

But during this period of marching, even though my lover is so close to me, I have to suppress my desire to be closer to him/her all day long and pay attention to my contact with him/her. It is really tormenting.

"I want to sleep next to you, just for one night. Okay."

Hearing this request, Leon raised his eyebrows slightly.

Since the expedition, since Olivia was one of the only two girls in the army, he always arranged for the girl and her attendant Theresia to rest in a separate tent.

As a leader and the object of the soldiers' attention, Leon did not want to take advantage of his and Olivia's identities to get too close to the girl in public.

After all, soldiers went to war away from their wives and had to worry about their heads. He was not like her, who had the company of his lover because Olivia was a powerful warrior.

So far, he has always treated the girl as a comrade-in-arms in front of everyone and behaved properly so as not to disrupt the morale of his soldiers because of personal feelings.

but.

Now that the army was stationed in various houses in the city of Fenleytown, he and Olivia did have many private opportunities away from the public eye.

think carefully.

He only cared about the morale of his soldiers.

As a commander, it would be a dereliction of duty if I failed to take care of the morale of the strongest generals around me.

Leon was delighted as he shamelessly found a reasonable excuse for himself.

"Sis Olivia has made so many military achievements. This Marshal has no choice but to endure the humiliation and stay overnight in the camp to feed the lion." Leon said jokingly with his hands spread out.

Olivia's heart leaped with joy, but when she saw the other person's smirking face, she couldn't help but reach out and pinch it.

"Don't let your imagination run wild. We're just leaning against each other to fall asleep. Don't mess around!"

"Ah?" Leon looked at her serious instructions and was a little disappointed: "Really. Just sleeping?"

Olivia was choked, gave the bad guy a displeased look, and raised her hand to nod her head.

Leon hissed, then he remembered that Laura was still with him.

".It's okay, don't worry about me~ Just do whatever you want."

The mysterious voice of Miss Mage echoed faintly in his heart.

She didn't need to say anything, but she suddenly interrupted for some reason.

Leon coughed awkwardly.

How could I not care? I don't have an exhibitionist fetish. It seems that I can only serve as a pillow for Olivia to help her sleep tonight.

Nothing happened all night.

In any case, even if he just slept in the arms of his lover, Leon felt that his tense heart was much more relaxed the next day, and the accumulated mental pressure seemed to be swept away.

Olivia also looked much more excited.

Just as I had replenished my mental state, a surprise came.

After receiving a report from the north shore, the second batch of reinforcements from the Thorn Flower Family finally arrived in Baldim County.

And it turned out that there were more than just the two thousand men led by Earl Elliver himself.

The number of reinforcements was twice as much as expected! A full 4,000.

However, Leon was stunned when he saw the unexpected name in the letter.
The Sea Eagle Knights.
Ines?
(End of this chapter)