Knight and Wand

Chapter 92: Farolis' Opportunity

On the flag with a dark red background, there is a majestic black dragon with its wings spread amidst the intricate patterns.

This is the coat of arms of the Drakmar family, the royal family of Orland.

In this day and age, this flag is roughly equivalent to the national flag and emblem of the Northern Kingdom.

Walking past the fences and watchtowers and looking around at the endless military tents, it is impossible to know exactly how many troops are stationed in such a large military camp that is as big as a town.

But recalling what Selva had seen at the beginning, the scale of the hundreds of heavy cavalry consisting of knights and squires around Earl Stag, taking into account the approximate ratio of knights to the infantry he led, and referring to the troops owned by his own lord, Baron Elliver.

In this large camp surrounding the city alone, there would be no less than several thousand soldiers wearing light or heavy armor, including archers, cavalry, spearmen and warriors.

The number of craftsmen and laborers supporting this huge army had to at least double. According to historical records, an army of this scale could be said to have a force of over 10,000.

But this army is far from reflecting the strength of the Northern Kingdom.

According to what I learned when I consulted the Knight Balf, in this southern expedition to put pressure on Kantadar, in addition to a small number of royal troops sent by His Majesty the King, only the Grey Fir Valley of the Kingdom was mobilized. The Northern Kingdom has no plans to go to war with Kantadar yet.

Leon withdrew his gaze and made way for a whole line of heavy infantrymen marching with dense and heavy steps. It was unclear whether they were going to carry out a mission or to change guard post.

Looking at the hundreds of elite warriors fully covered in heavy infantry armor, carrying long-handled heavy weapons, marching in formation and marching out of the military camp with resounding steps, Leon felt envious, but he knew very well that was not what he should expect now.

These one hundred tall and strong professional warriors who have obviously left their jobs would probably cost several thousand gold crowns a year, even if they were provided with normal military pay and food.

This does not include the luxurious heavy infantry armor, weapons, and other daily maintenance costs.

And I wonder how many civilians are needed to serve these one hundred elite heavily-armored soldiers. The money spent on these logistics is truly staggering.

Of course, if one can really afford it, the huge annual expenditure is definitely worth it to train such a group of terrifying elite heavy infantry.

These elite warriors covered in heavy armor, as long as their leaders are not stupid, can easily defeat lightly armored soldiers that number ten times their number on the battlefield, and can stand still even when facing the same number of heavily armored knights.

And if the enemies don’t even have decent armor, then thousands or even tens of thousands of them will be nothing more than lambs to be slaughtered.

Of course, ordinary nobles certainly cannot afford to maintain such a luxurious army. Even if they can raise so much money, they will generally choose a more cost-effective way of building the army.

Leon guessed that perhaps only great nobles of the level of Earl of Stag or even the royal family could afford their daily military expenses.

After walking for a while, Leon finally saw the flag with the thorn flower emblem. He came to the camp where the Farolis family troops were stationed. After reporting, he learned that the feudal lord was still attending the general's meeting, so he had to follow the guards of the Thorn Flower family into the tent and wait.

Leon didn't have to wait too long before he saw Baron Elliver coming back in plate armor. He looked a little gloomy, as if he was not in a good mood.

When Lord Feng sat on the chair in the military tent, Leon held his helmet and saluted him.

"Thank you for taking the time out of your busy military duties to meet with me, my lord."

"It doesn't matter. Seeing you makes me happier than watching some idiots talking nonsense here every day." Elifer waved his hand with a wry smile.

Looking at the brave young man he had recruited more than a month ago, the baron put away the pent-up displeasure on his face during the military meeting, and said with emotion: "I heard from Azerien before that you guys actually went to the castle of the Falcon family in Western Port and made a scene?
You guys are really restless, I think I should find someone to write a legendary story about your daring adventure."

Leon said helplessly, "You are too kind, sir. I believe you also know what happened. Lohak's sister is in danger. We can't just sit there and do nothing about that lady."

"Of course, you did a very good job. Such a righteous act is worthy of the knights of Farolis. If I were still as young as you, I might go on adventures with you." Elifer praised while chatting and laughing.

After saying this, the baron asked his little vassal about his purpose: "But why are you here at the front line looking for me now? Are you eager to step onto the battlefield and make achievements?"

"As long as you call for it, I will respond immediately. But this time I come here to report an extremely important matter. It concerns the Thorn Flower Family, the current war, and possibly the entire Orland Kingdom." Leon answered carefully.

But he looked at Feng Jun and did not say it immediately, because there were spies in the military tent that he was not familiar with.

"It concerns the entire kingdom? How dare you say that?" Elifer raised his eyebrows, not knowing whether what his little knight said was too exaggerated. However, considering the character shown by the other party, the baron temporarily called away his attendants.

"Balfe stays, the others go down first."

"Yes, my lord."

The attendants saluted and left the tent.

When only the feudal lord, himself, and the Baron's trusted knight Barf were left in the tent, Leon spoke: "Lord Elliver, the horrifying cursed land in the Nightmare Forest may have disappeared! Now it seems that we can directly cross the forest from the south of Kosos and reach the territory of Kantadar!"

".What did you say?!" Even with Baron Elliver's temperament, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise when he heard it.

Knight Balfe on the side opened his eyes wide in shock, as if he had heard a fairy tale.

Baron Elliver quickly suppressed his surprise, sat forward, leaned forward in his chair, and frowned, "How is this possible?"

If this had not come from the mouth of the young man who had entered the Nightmare Forest and returned safely, Elif would have had the guy who made such a joke kicked out of the tent long ago.

No one could understand better than him how dangerous the cursed land that had swallowed up the obsession of generations of Thorn Flower ancestors was.

Leon nodded, and then recounted his experience of escaping back to Orland after the adaptation.

".In order to get rid of the pursuers as quickly as possible, I lost my way and accidentally entered the original nightmare forest area from the other side from the northern border of Kantadar."

Of course, in Leon's brief report this time, there was still no mention of the wizard lady and the wizard tower hidden by Laura's magic.

He didn't even say that he had entered the cursed land again.

He just lied that he was being chased by the enemy, and he went all the way north, fighting his way through the undead monsters he unexpectedly encountered in the forest.

After passing through the woods unknowingly and arriving at a village in Kossos County, he asked for directions and "suddenly realized" that he had safely passed through the nightmare forest while lost.

This explanation was, of course, intended to prevent the other party from mentioning anything about Miss Lola and the spirit-like land.

Leon had suffered the consequences of being too honest in the past, and now that he had some knowledge of geography, he was able to cover up his lies and avoid unnecessary trouble.

However, Leon did not hide the fortress town under the wizard tower.

Instead, he told the Baron the truth that during his escape, he discovered an uninhabited "mysterious" castle town in a river valley in a forest.

It’s not that I don’t want to monopolize the ancient town that can accommodate a thousand people.

But after repeated discussions with Azerien, Leon gave up this tempting idea. With the power and resources they have now, it is simply unrealistic to occupy the empty city.

Leon had neither the financial resources to develop the empty city nor the population of subjects sufficient to fill the town.

Such a fortress town with advanced and complete facilities, which can accommodate nearly a thousand residents inside and has a large amount of development land outside, is obviously attractive to any lord.

Now that the cursed land has dissipated, this means that a large area almost the size of half a county has appeared out of nowhere in the area that was once covered by that domain. It is an unowned land that does not belong to the northern or southern kingdoms at all.

As for the scope of the cursed area in the past, whether it was the lord of Kantadar or the other Orland lords in Kossos County, when other wealthy nobles learned that the Nightmare Forest was no longer dangerous, they began to open up new territories and discovered the empty city. Leon knew that it was impossible for him alone to protect the town from being snatched away by other greedy nobles.

Well, instead of letting outsiders take advantage of it, it would be better to tell the feudal lord the existence of the empty city now so as to gain tangible rewards for myself.

It is better to keep this fat meat in one's own camp and let the Farolis family invest in its construction than to have it snatched away by unrelated outsiders.

Moreover, with the intelligence of the Nightmare Forest and an ancient castle town with advanced facilities as a gift, Leon was not afraid of not getting a generous reward, considering Baron Elliver's generous character.

As for the secret of the Mage Tower, that is the only concern.

However, thinking about the amazing magic that Laura activated before he left, Leon was not too worried that ordinary people could discover the existence of a hidden wizard tower in the city.

After Leon finally finished carefully recounting the experience he had compiled.

Baron Elliver stood up from his chair, walked quickly to the young man, and raised his hand to press his shoulder armor.

"Have you told anyone else about this? Who else knows that the curse in the forest has been lifted?" asked the Lord of Thorn Flowers seriously.

"Now, apart from me, Azerien, and Lohak, only you and Lord Balfe know about this." Leon answered half-truthfully.

Corvis outside the door and Miss Lola in the Mage Tower also knew about it, so there was no need to inform Baron Elliver specifically.

"To be honest, I find it hard to believe what you said. It's not that I doubt your honesty, but this matter is of great importance. I must send someone to accompany you back to the Nightmare Forest to find out the truth." Elliver quickly calculated the next arrangements in his mind and said to Leon in a deep voice.

He knew what it would mean to the surrounding areas if what Leon said was true and the Nightmare Forest was no longer a natural barrier across the southern part of Kossos County.

As he deduced a series of frightening influences and chain reactions in his mind, the Lord of the Thorn Flower could not hide his excited heartbeat.

If true, this is an opportunity. An opportunity for Farolis to rise!
"Whether your speculation that the curse in the forest has dissipated is true or not, Leon, you didn't go find other people, but told me the news as soon as possible." Elliver took a deep breath, patted the boy's shoulder armor, and sighed: "I will never treat you unfairly in the future."

The Baron could sense from the young man's words emphasizing the importance of the mysterious uninhabited town that the other party was not naive and ignorant.

The young man must be aware of the unimaginable value contained in this information, but the baron believed that the small manor he had given to the other party was not worth mentioning compared to this value.

The other party did not choose to bypass him and go to Count Trosa to gain greater benefits, but instead gave him this God-given opportunity. Elifer silently remembered the loyalty of the person in front of him.

He looked at the young knight who was canonized by him, and felt that he was a lucky general bestowed by the gods to the Farolis family.

Baron Thornflower suddenly felt fortunate that he had acted quickly and snatched the three young men from General Trosa.

Otherwise, this good thing would not be the Farolis family's turn.

"It is you who enabled me and my companions to have the noble status we have today and settle down in Orland, a place where we have no one to rely on. How could I not repay you for your kindness?" Leon acted humble and responded righteously.

This is indeed one of the main reasons.

As for the other reason, Leon didn't dare to gamble and go to General Trosa instead of his own. What would the Count of the Stag think of his political speculation of abandoning his feudal lord and trying to curry favor with a higher-ranking person?

As long as this information is spoken out, the influence of a small knight like me on the subsequent situation will be insignificant.

How Count Trosa will use this information later has nothing to do with him, a small pawn.

And if the Earl of the Stag was disgusted by such disloyalty, he rashly took the information to betray his master and flatter his superiors, but did not get a worthy reward from General Trosa.

When Baron Elliver and other members of the Thorn Flower family found out about this, one can imagine what would happen to him in the future.

You know, regardless of the faction, on this continent, the feudal lords may not necessarily care about the morality or even the abilities of their knights.

But the word "loyalty" is the quality that these lords value most.

Loyalty is not absolute, it is absolutely disloyal!
Although Leon didn't feel he had any real loyalty to Elif.

But some things are not about what you think in your heart, but about letting others see what you do.

"Balfe, pick the most reliable cavalry squad among the guards and go back with Leon to investigate the Nightmare Forest." Elliver turned around and ordered.

Then he looked at the young knight and said, "Remember, Leon, from now on, don't tell anyone about the Nightmare Forest. Do you understand?"

Leon nodded silently. He could see that his lord did not seem to be in a hurry to inform the high-level officials of the Kingdom of Orlando about this matter.

But that was not something a little knight like him should be concerned about right now.

Now that he had presented a great gift to Elifer, Leon spoke of his more pressing reality: "Sir, I still need your help. My companions and I are now living in a territory close to the Nightmare Forest, but the young men of Longka and Pleydon are still serving in your fortress. What do you think?"

"No problem. I'll write a letter and ask Balf to give it to the commander of the fortress when he returns with you, asking him to let your people return home."

Elliver turned back to his chair, looked at Leon and smiled, “Also, whether the forest incident is true or not, I believe you did not lie to me about the threats of those undead spirits.

How about this, I will first give you 500 gold crowns to help you build your own army to protect your territory.

And if Balfe investigates and proves that this intelligence is correct
Haha, to be honest, by then, I don’t know how to reward you, but believe me, I won’t let you regret your loyalty to Farolis. "

"Thank you, sir."

Leon was delighted to hear that he could not only return to the fortress with soldiers but also get a large reward.

It is comfortable to have a generous boss backing you up. Just give him some money and the financial crisis in the territory will disappear.

"Also, Leon, when you return, take the time to send someone to the city to find the heraldry painters and craftsmen in my castle to make your heraldic banner as soon as possible."

Baron Elliver said, smiling and hinting to the young man in front of him: "Remember, make a few more square flags, you may need them soon."

(End of this chapter)