Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords.

Chapter 226: Make You a Countess

"Be sure to come back safely."

Beristina looked at the tall lion hunter knight in front of her and hugged his waist tightly, just like a little white beast.

"Don't worry. When I conquer the southern border, I will directly make you a countess. Who knows, you can even become a marquis."

Levi was quite optimistic as he touched Christina's snow-white hair.

The titles of Derby are generally Duke, Marquis, Earl, Baron, and the knight class, which can barely be called aristocracy.

Among them, the Duke is the highest leader of a region, and his status is second only to the king. It can be said that he is second only to the king and above everyone else.

The only one who can be on par with him is probably the prince who is a member of the royal family.

The title of Marquis is very special. Although it is the second title after the Duke, it has the fewest people.

Because this title was extended later, it seems to be second only to the Duke, but because it is sandwiched between two old titles, its status is very awkward and has not been taken seriously by Derby for a long time.

Until recent years, with the efforts of His Majesty the King, the Marquis finally stabilized in the second rank. However, the number of Marquis is still the smallest among the five ranks, because most of the princes will subconsciously ignore this title when conferring titles.

But as I said, don't treat the village chief as a cadre. Although this title is embarrassing, his official status is only lower than that of a duke.

This trip south, in addition to retaking the southern border, is also a great opportunity for the lord to upgrade his title again.

After all, the merits of following the dragon, expanding the territory, destroying the country and protecting the dragon can be regarded as the greatest achievements.

Once he conquers the southern border, he will have occupied the second place. Leah will at least make him an earl, and even a marquis is not impossible.

"Hmm." Hearing the Lord's straightforward words, Bai Ruishina blushed a little and hummed softly.

"Brother-in-law, it's time to go."

At a glance, all that could be seen was the baggage train that had fallen behind the team, which made Mir on the side speak anxiously.

"wait me back."

Levi kissed her on her white forehead, then, holding his sword, he walked over and kicked the boy without hesitation, cursing.

"Are you in such a hurry to eat shit? Didn't you see me discussing something with your sister? You don't have any sense at all. How can I trust you to be my adjutant?"

"Brother-in-law, I'm not..."

Watching the two figures playing and walking away, Beristina couldn't help but cover her mouth and smile. Finally, she watched worriedly as the team from Highcliff Castle disappeared over the horizon, without a trace of them left.

"Tina, don't worry. Levi's strength is the strongest I have ever seen in my life, and he is also very smart. Others may get into trouble, but he won't."

Miriel put a coat on the little girl.

Although it is already March, the coldness in the north has not decreased at all. In previous years, it would have been noticeably warming, but this year's winter is just too bizarre.

The Mithril Chamber of Commerce was the property of the Martell family. She was only the head of the Chamber of Commerce and did not have to participate in the war, so she happened to stay in Highcliff Castle and keep Christina company.

"Strong people are often very arrogant, and Levi is one of the best. I'm worried that he will suffer because of his arrogance." But Bai Ruishina had other concerns.

But now, she could only pray for Highcliff Castle in her heart.

……

There is a piece of wasteland dozens of miles away from Bailiu City. The wild grass here has been trampled and the loess has been compacted. It serves as a temporary camp for the coalition forces heading south. Countless earls and barons have come from all directions with their private soldiers and gathered here.

It is said that when the number of people exceeds 10,000, a boundless visual effect will be created. Having experienced the coalition of tens of thousands of wild people heading north, the people of Gaoyabao consider themselves to be people who have seen big scenes.

But when they arrived at the outskirts of the camp, they were truly shocked - their eyes were opened, and they felt that they were insignificant and the world was vast.

Under their feet was a wide and tamped road that was wide enough for ten horses to walk side by side. Their sight followed the road and they saw rows of white tents, which were located on the land, and there was no end in sight.

Countless patrolling soldiers shuttled between the tents, most of them in teams of several people, with neat formations and meticulous work.

Levi even saw a team of troll warriors among them. These burly orcs were almost as tall as the tents.

This was very surprising to him. He didn't expect that besides him, there were other nobles who would use foreigners as soldiers.

Or the trolls, the race he threw to be the blacksmith.

"My lord, these are the troll battle axe guards of Earl Winter in the northwest of the Northern Territory. There are only a hundred of them, but they can definitely be called elite."

"They were clad in iron armor and wielded huge axes weighing nearly a hundred pounds. It is said that only a hundred of them defeated a bandit group of a thousand men."

Leighton, riding on a black horse, came to the lord in due time to explain.

As a qualified commander, you must not only be clear about the enemy's information, but also have your own information at your fingertips.

During this period, it spent most of its time collecting intelligence from all sides. It couldn't say that it knew everything, but at least it knew some of it.

"Elite? Give me ten of them and I can kill them until they cry for their parents."

Zat picked his nose disdainfully and then snapped his fingers.

The arrival of a team of nearly two thousand people naturally attracted the attention of the officers guarding the gate of the camp.

The officer who was walking over looked at the small black spot on the leather armor on his chest, his mouth twitched, and he looked at the orc whose arms were as thick as his waist. In the end, he could only pretend to ignore it and walked towards him.

He acted as if he was familiar with the place and wanted to strike up a conversation, but when he looked at the centaurs, orcs, goblins, and gnolls, they all had expressionless faces and were obviously difficult to talk to.

The nobleman who was guarding the front had a strong aura of "keep away from strangers".

Looking left and right, he saw a young man wearing plate armor. He quickly ran over and punched him lightly on the chest, grinning and saying:

"Brother, where are you from? You are so elite."

"Are you not the Earl's former troops?"

The officer looked at the tall and burly foreign warriors with amazement.

It was common to use foreigners as soldiers in Derby, but it was extremely rare that 80% of them were foreigners.

The key point is that these difficult-to-train aliens are exactly the same as a well-trained human veteran at this moment.

The queues were neat and orderly, their faces solemn, and the entire team was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

"We are just a self-defense force from the countryside. We can't be called elite." Milhan smiled and touched his head. He always kept in mind the word "humility" that the lord said.

Besides, he was not wrong. Compared with these soldiers who came from Bailiu City, Gaoyabao was indeed an out-and-out remote and poor place.

"Just lie to the undead." The officer looked unconvinced, but he didn't ask any more questions. He rubbed his hands. The weather was too cold. "Where are you going? Do you want me to lead the way?"

"This is my brother. I'll lead the way." Count Andao appeared out of nowhere. It was obvious that the two had dealt with each other often. The officer on duty seemed to have suddenly realized something and stamped his feet in annoyance: "So he is Count Andao's brother. Come in, come in."

He quickly ordered the soldiers to remove the roadblocks in front of the camp.

"Come to me in the evening and get a few bottles of brandy. It's freezing cold, don't let the brothers get frozen." When passing by the officer, Andao patted him on the shoulder, which immediately drew cheers from the soldiers on duty.

"Count Ando..." Levi waved his hand to signal the Gaoyabao team to follow. "Just call me Ando." Count Ando waved his hand, then winked and said, "Of course, I would be happier if you call me Brother Ando."

"Don't even think about it." The lord was speechless.

He, the Lord of Highcliff Castle, has always been the one who takes advantage of others, but this is the first time he has been taken advantage of by someone else.

The more Count Ando understood, the more he realized that the other party was thicker-skinned than the city wall, and even he felt inferior to him.

"Old An, I didn't realize you're so approachable."

The lord is a person who doesn't like to suffer losses, so he just hits the snake with a stick.

An Dao didn't care about his name, he just shrugged and said, "Anyway, saying a few nice words doesn't cost any money, and it can actually reduce some minor troubles, so why not do it?"

"Isn't the wine free?"

"I got the wine from the logistics department of the Thorn Legion." An Dao smiled calmly.

"Can this still happen?"

Levi kept it in mind and planned to go to the Thorn Legion's logistics department to pick up some things when he had time. After all, he and Fujiro had worked together before.

"Levi, we have arrived at our base."

After passing countless tents, everyone finally stopped under a team flag, with a purple flag embroidered on it fluttering in the wind.

This is the family flag of Count Andor, representing loyalty.

"Just find an empty camp nearby and stay there. You don't need to unload your baggage. We'll probably only stay here for a few days before heading south."

"You are late, but there are still a few barons whose fiefdoms are in distant mountains who have not arrived yet. However, the Duke does not plan to wait for them and plans to hold a meeting tonight."

An Dao gave instructions to the newcomers, and finally patted Li Wei on the shoulder: "Although this meeting is not important, it's best not to be absent."

"After all, we are reformists and represent the Duke's reputation in some ways."

After saying this, the earl in military uniform walked towards the door.

Apparently, this guy was not waiting at the door specifically for the lord, but to greet all the reformists or people he was on good terms with.

"The earl is very clever."

Leighton said from the side.

"Maybe." Levi did not comment.

I have to say that Florina was well prepared. Countless tents had been built in advance and could be lived in directly.

This detail solved the difficult situation for the poorer barons.

Although the tent may seem inconspicuous, it will be very expensive if you buy it.

Many barons whose fiefs were in poor countryside would use up all their savings just to organize a militia of hundreds of men and equip them with the three sets of militia equipment and baggage, making it difficult to set up tents.

Carriages were parked inside the planned fence, and the people in Gaoya Castle completed their stationing without much effort.

Time passed quickly and it was evening. After instructing everyone to keep an eye on the supplies, Levi went to the meeting alone.

……

An extremely conspicuous wooden house stood in the center of the camp full of tents. It was extremely spacious and was obviously the coalition headquarters.

When Levi pushed the door open and walked in, all kinds of aromas rushed into his mouth and nose, making him feel choked and a little unbearable.

All those present were nobles. Except for some poor barons, most of them were very respectable and paid great attention to their appearance. Perfume was a common thing among the aristocracy.

So there were no beautiful women in the room, only bearded men.

In the middle is a huge sand table, which takes up nearly one-third of the space in the house, and the chairs around it are mostly occupied.

The meeting hadn't even started yet, and the Northern nobles were already discussing among themselves. The scene was noisy, no quieter than a vegetable market.

Levi didn't find anyone he knew at first glance, so he just found a seat and sat down. Unexpectedly, a nobleman who was sitting close to him immediately stood up and left.

"Am I so disliked?"

Levi complained, but he also understood that this noble was most likely a conservative.

I just didn't expect the conflict between the two to be so big.

I think that Florina's motivation for going south might be to resolve this contradiction.

After all, the best way to divert a conflict is to create a bigger one.

As time passed, more and more nobles arrived.

Not long after, the door was pushed open again. Florina, who had not been seen for many days, was wearing exquisite leather armor and looked extremely heroic. Behind her was Leah, who was wearing a blue cloak.

The two looked at each other knowingly, but Levi didn't rush to say hello.

With the arrival of the protagonist, the meeting officially began.

The meeting finally ended when the lords felt drowsy.

As Andao said, this was just a small meeting for everyone to get to know each other and then assign responsibilities.

Perhaps the only important information is that the vanguard army will set off soon and take the lead in opening the way for the main army.

That is to say, Gaoyabao, as the vanguard army, had to hurry on before they could even get comfortable.

"Levi, how are you doing lately?"

Outside the conference room, Leia looked at the Lion Hunting Knight whom she hadn't seen for several months with a smile.

"Thanks to you, I enjoy eating, but I have some trouble sleeping."

Levi yawned and stretched.

"By the way, Leah, are you going to follow the vanguard army?" he asked curiously.

"Sorry Levi, I'm afraid I can't stay with you." Leah said helplessly.

"It's expected, but if you need anything, Leah, just tell me."

"Yeah." Leah nodded, then smiled and said, "Do you remember the jaw-dropping assistance I told you about?"

"I will remember it until I die!" Speaking of this, the lord looked resentful.

"Don't mind it. It's not that I don't want to tell you, but I agreed to someone else's request." Leah smiled and led the way: "Follow me."

(End of this chapter)