Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 764 Reserves

“Baron Herrera, this is now within the territory of Greenpool County.”

Beside the straight, flat, and wide road, a man dressed in the uniform of a Saint-Valen official lifted the curtain of a carriage, smiled, and leaned out to introduce the carriage to the knight standing beside it.

The nobleman riding in the carriage was Baron Peyton, who was temporarily in charge of the Wolf Fang Ridge border pass, while Baron Herrera, dressed as a knight and sitting upright on his horse, was his relative by marriage, a military nobleman from Steel Rock City.

Herrera was different from other nobles in Eisengard. After the invasion of the northern barbarians, the war gradually spread to the central part of the kingdom. Most of the fiefdom lords either blindly organized their armies to resist recklessly, and were eventually crushed into dust by the Lizardmen army, with both people and cities reduced to ruins.

Or they had heard of the terrifying reputation of the foreign races early on, and hurriedly fled south with their family wealth and private knights, abandoning the innocent people in their entire fiefdom.

Baron Herrera, one of the three ruling nobles of Steelrock City, was young and had just ascended to the position of head of the family. After the other two noble families fled first, he took on the responsibility of protecting the people of the city. On the one hand, he sent a small number of troops to the north to investigate the situation, and on the other hand, he organized the people to evacuate in an orderly manner.

Afterwards, he took the lead and led his family's knightly order to stay in Steelrock City to fight the enemy to the death, so as to buy enough time for the people who were retreating south to escape.

When the Northern Army's eastern defense line pushed northward to the central part of Eisengard, they happened to come to the aid of the last remaining knights led by Baron Herrera. They had been chased all the way from Steelrock City by more than ten winged beings and were almost wiped out when they received help from the neighboring country's army.

The invasion and ravages of his homeland by foreign tribes, and the innocent slaughter of his people, naturally made the young baron, who upheld the highest honor of nobility and knighthood, see it as a blood feud. He also understood the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my ally, so he gladly accepted the Northern Army's "amnesty" and followed them all the way back to the border area of ​​Langya Ridge for a temporary rest.

Unexpectedly, he ran into Baron Peyton, who was related to him by blood. After some persuasion from him, he simply swore allegiance to Emperor Saint Valen, asking only to be given the opportunity to return to his homeland and take revenge on the foreign invaders.

"Although the emperor abolished the nobles' right to inherit fiefdoms, he did not prohibit us from continuing to enjoy the status, honor and social position that come with our titles. As long as our reputation remains... even if we go to unfamiliar places, we will not have to worry about not having the opportunity to make a comeback."

Lord Peyton greatly admired his relative by marriage, who had fought bravely against foreign invaders. He patiently taught him how to survive in a foreign land and even took leave to accompany him to the government-designated temporary residence in Greenpool County.

"Most of the people who have settled in Greenpool County are from Eisengard, many of whom were originally subjects of the Steelrock City area. His Majesty the Emperor has assigned you here, and it is likely that you will be directly recruited into the government soon. The position of the future governor of this county will undoubtedly belong to you."

Baron Peyton clicked his tongue enviously, recalling that he still had to work hard at the border to receive immigrants, which would probably take more than a year and a half. He didn't know when he would be able to achieve his political achievements and be promoted and rewarded.

Baron Herrera frowned, but his expression remained unmoved. He said somewhat impatiently, "The invasion of foreign tribes has led to the loss of our country and territory, and the honor of our family has been disgraced. My intention in joining Saint Valen is to regroup and take revenge... not for any official position under His Majesty the Emperor!"

If he hadn't been directly rejected, he would have even planned to stay in the border region, ideally fighting alongside the exceptionally powerful Saint Valen people to wipe out all the foreign tribes that had fled south from the north. When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head… Herrera turned to look at the cavalry following behind him. Although they had escaped from Steelrock City with him and traveled all the way here, almost everyone was wounded. If it weren't for the dedicated medical help of the "magic healers" of Wolf Fang Ridge, most of them would probably have died from their injuries.

Having received a tremendous favor from the other party, and under the threat of military force, he had no choice but to obediently follow the arrangements and arrive at Green Pond County.

However, the emperor seemed to appreciate him greatly and specially approved that he retain his title and continue to lead the cavalry regiment trained by his family. Although the number of soldiers was only a hundred or so, it still allowed Herrera to retain the last spark of revenge.

"In my opinion... you'd better be careful with the men you have under your command from now on. I've never heard of any local nobleman in the entire kingdom who has the right to hold military power and keep knights. Even if His Majesty the Emperor gives you special consideration, you should be careful not to arouse the jealousy of others. Herrera... we are, after all, nobles who have submitted to a foreign land."

Lord Peyton, a natural political animal, was always keenly aware of these issues, and couldn't help but offer his advice as the conversation progressed.

"Stop thinking about going back for revenge... What can a hundred knights do? Even Saint Valentine's magic army, which has dominated the southern border, is currently locked in a stalemate with the Lizardmen in the central region. If you rush back, you'll only cause trouble and get yourself killed."

Herrera raised an eyebrow, surprised. "The army of Saint Valen has already advanced all the way to the central part of the grasslands? Where did you get this information? You have connections in the capital of Saint Valen...?"

Peyton rolled his eyes, turned around and took a stack of newspapers from the carriage, throwing them at Herrera. "You idiot with no political sense whatsoever! How could a foreign noble like me possibly scheme in the heart of the kingdom? Am I courting death? This is the Starfire Weekly, which is distributed throughout the entire territory every week. It clearly contains briefings on the war between the army and the foreign races!"

After saying that, he added in a low voice with a hint of pride, "Of course, the State Department and the Ministry of National Defense also have their own independently published internal publications. If you want to know the specific deployment of military operations, casualties and losses... as well as the strategic direction of the next stage, you can naturally get first-hand information from the internal publications."

Herrera stared blankly at the illustrated content of the newspaper in his hand, and for a moment he felt his breathing become heavier... Did the Saint Valen people really intend to stand in front of the Southern Humans and independently shoulder the glorious responsibility of fighting against the alien race?
Or rather... that emperor, who even established his capital on the northern wasteland and was practically on the front lines of the alien invasion, regarded all the other kingdoms in the south as useless trash, believing that they had no need to form an alliance to resist the enemy.
The young baron took a deep breath and decisively said to Peyton, "Could you do me a favor and get me into the Saint Valen army, even if it's just as a low-ranking officer? When we escaped from Steelrock, my entourage and I carried some gold with us..."

Before he could finish speaking, two rumbling alchemical carts suddenly appeared at the end of the road leading to Green Pond County.

Two men dressed in matching dark blue official uniforms jumped down from the carriage, scrutinized the knight on horseback with a look of scrutiny, and then smiled and said, "Baron Herrera of Steelrock City, is that right?"

"Indeed, and who are you two gentlemen?"

“We are the political affairs directors of the Biyue Town municipal department, cooperating with the new round of national conscription work issued by the capital... Baron Herrera, are you and these knights behind you willing to accept the conscription and serve as instructors at the Green Pond County Militia Training Camp, while also being responsible for the recruitment and training of reserve soldiers throughout the county?”

(End of this chapter)