Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 208 Guardian Otter Kappa and the Laurel Gem
The jewel pool below the Rainbow Falls is truly beautiful with a touch of fantasy and tranquility.

Hidden among the lush woods and gardens, it has a feeling of paradise and a female fantasy dreamland.

This place looks like a beautiful gem pool that every girl would dream of, forming a sharp contrast with the tall forest fortress outside the forest.

After half of the buildings on Limburg Farm were destroyed by an earthquake, the dwarf engineers rebuilt it and turned Limburg Farm directly into a large stone castle.

The main reason for repairing the territory at all costs was to station troops here. Not only to deal with the war against the green dragon, but also to defend against the threat of beastmen in the hills.

This world has always been like this: on the vast and fertile land, among the steep foothills and canyon passes, there are knights' castles dotted around.

The fertile land and abundant resources at the foot of the Hessen Mountains support thousands of people in the Hessen Territory, and also nourish countless wild monsters and bands of raiders.

Especially in the Green Leaf Hills, an area with undulating terrain and dense forests, as long as the Beastmen eat enough blood under the Blood Moon, a month of continuous rain will allow them to reproduce into a large group.

In the more than half a year since Su Li came to the Hessen Territory, Limburg Farm and the farmland below have been besieged by monsters six or seven times. As a human stronghold in the green hills, they are too easy to attract the siege of the roaring beasts from all directions nearby.

Su Li had to send troops to provide support every time to clear out these beastmen, greenskins and wolves.

Sending troops was easy enough; Su Li could just talk. The problem was that this intelligence would take up an important column in Su Li's daily intelligence, and Su Li couldn't tolerate that. It was a waste of Su Li's opportunity.

So taking this opportunity, he planned to directly expand this Limburg Farm into a medium-sized [Iron Oak Castle] and station a squadron of knights and soldiers in it.

Many elite knights of the Order of the Flaming Sun travel alone as resident knights, and can help a village or farm repel invading beasts and herds of beastmen.

If this squadron is commanded properly, it can completely wipe out an entire herd of roaring beasts.

After all, the battle that Su Li commanded only mobilized a little more than a squadron.

The purpose of stationing troops here is to guard this holy land and prevent thieves, burglars, smugglers and others from entering and stealing the wealth of the territory.

As for defending against the Green Dragon's army, that was not something these guards could do and they had to rely entirely on Su Li's intelligence.

During the days that Su Li was recuperating, the war between the territory and the Green Dragon Legion did not stop, but on the contrary tended to intensify.

Although the Green Dragon had postponed the start of the war due to its fear and suspicion of the Black Forest Territory's strength, its exploration of the territory had reached a nearly crazy level. Even with the assistance of the daily intelligence system, Su Li was almost unable to keep up.

It is a bit of an exaggeration to say that it had one man on one route and 30,000 troops attacking at the same time.

But it really sent out dozens of troops without caring about the lives of the soldiers. Each group had hundreds of people at most and only dozens of tree monsters at least. They scattered and lurked in the foothills and forests of the Hessen Territory, spying on the Hessen Territory's every move in the shadows and exploring all kinds of intelligence.

And unlike Su Li's expectations, they were not afraid of fighting with the Black Forest Army. This brutal green dragon tyrant seemed to be intentionally using the tree demon to consume the Black Forest Army's strength.

The Knight Corps of the Hessen Territory was exhausted from dealing with the situation and had to rush around every day. Although they could chop down dozens or hundreds of tree demons in every battle, the most severe battle even saw them block a legion of thousands of tree demons on the plain at the foot of the mountain and chop them all into pieces.

However, the knights suffered more or less casualties in every battle. With such piecemeal fighting, the accumulated casualties of the Black Forest Army were a number that could not be underestimated.

Su Li even suspected that the green dragon had given up on a quick victory and was determined to fight a protracted war with Su Li. It relied on the vast blood pine forest for support, and the Black Forest Territory was not sure of winning a war of attrition.

But fortunately, its forest territory is like a grassland. Once an area is empty, a large number of monsters will flock in, and Su Li's farming here is also very effective.

The Rainbow Waterfall and Gem Pool in front of us are important achievements of farming and development.

Facing Su Li's curious question, Fandral explained in detail: "This gem pool is the sacred place associated with the Rainbow Falls spirit, and it is a gathering place for many spirits. To talk about this gem pool, we must first talk about the Rainbow Falls."

"As you know, after passing the Obelisk Fragment, the spring water of this Rainbow Falls will be magical. The followers of Vaul, the God of Craftsmen, use this spring water to forge powerful cold-forged metal. This is one of the essential metals we need to forge God-chosen weapons."

"After the spring water converged here, the first to arrive was the patron saint of the water fairies, Otter Kapa. He possessed the ability to control the flow of water and the water element. He built his lair here, intercepting the flow and converging it into a beautiful waterfall pool with powerful magic."

"It possesses a massive body and remarkable intelligence, and is able to drive away monsters such as poisonous snakes, spiders, swamp goblins, and river trolls that would cause the river water to become rotten and stinking."

"It is Mannan's loyal guard, guarding the children that Mannan loves so much: Triton, Naiad, Sea Spirit, Sirens and other sea monsters."

A giant otter?

This really exceeded Su Li's expectations. He thought otters were relatively small.

"Can I see it?"

"Of course." Fandral replied immediately, "Lord Kappa is also very interested in you. He has mentioned wanting to meet you before."

"Is this a natural spirit that's not afraid of strangers? This is the first time I've seen one." Su Li said with a smile, "Then let it come over."

Soon, at the call of several female priests of the Church of Dawn, a rustling sound was heard in the dense bushes, and not long after, a huge creature waded in. It was indeed very huge, with a length of three or four meters and a height of nearly two meters. Its dark brown fur shone with the unique luster of an otter, and its body lines were smooth and strong. There was a tuft of distinctive white hair on its forehead, shaped like a crescent moon.

Despite its large size, its voice was very childish, like a child whose voice was changing. When it saw Su Li, it took the initiative to greet him: "Master of the Black Forest Territory, the powerful Kappa greets you. Welcome to the home I share with my friends and me, as long as you don't steal our things like a thief."

Su Li was amused by him and asked, "Why is this your home and your other friends' home, but not mine as well? We can still be friends."

Kappa was obviously stunned by the question. He wanted to scratch his head with his short front paws, but the length only reached his thick neck, making him look a little funny.

It instinctively felt something was wrong: "How is that the same? My friends and I live here, but you humans don't live here."

"But..." Su Li pointed to the beautiful scenery around him, filled with birdsong and flowers, and said, "Every blade of grass and every tree in this territory is my property. You've made this place a home for you and your friends, but you don't allow me to live here. Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

There was a hint of confusion in Kappa's eyes, as if he had never considered this question before. His primitive thinking and simple character made him feel unfamiliar with the human world and territory.

It shook its massive head, trying to comprehend Su Li's words. "Well, this..." Kapa's voice was hesitant, and its stubby front paws unconsciously scratched the skin under its neck again, as if searching for a suitable answer. "We otters and other nature spirits simply live here, without considering whose territory this is. If you like it here, you can live here too. But the prerequisite is that you don't steal the gems in the gem pool."

Su Li smiled and said, "You've mentioned stealing twice. Is this something particularly important? Perhaps we can protect this place together."

"Oh, I see. You mean, we can protect this place together, like... like a team?" Capa's voice was filled with excitement. "That's exactly why I came to find you. This is my most important gem pool, which can produce laurel gems."

Su Li couldn't help but laugh at its excitement. It really was a large, adorable pet. "So what effect does the laurel gem have?"

Kapa had no idea what Su Li was laughing at. Upon hearing his question, he raised his head with a hint of arrogance and disdain: "My friend, the human lord, you are truly ignorant. You haven't even heard of the laurel gem? This is the Laurel Forest's most famous gem, supporting an entire elven kingdom."

"Its effect is that soaking in magical water or a wine flask can restore all magic power, divine power, and even bloodline power."

In fact, the laurel gem is not named because it is shaped like a laurel flower. It is indeed golden and gorgeous, but its shape looks like a golden diamond-shaped leaf, not a flower.

The most important reason for this name is that 80% of the laurel gems in the entire continent come from the Laurel Forest. The local people are also called Ainor by the forest, which means memory, wisdom and the power of gems.

The local political ecology is different from that of the empire, and the political power structure is relatively democratic. Although it is led by Queen Marist, actual decision-making needs to be discussed with the Supreme Council and the Troika (three-person council) within it.

They dominate the production of laurel gems, reaping immense wealth through trade with other forest elves, high elves, and the Church of Nature. Legend has it that the local Ever Oak trees reach skyward, their vast canopy encompassing hundreds of miles. Sunlight filters through the gaps in the canopy, illuminating the entire forest beneath. The powerful winds of Girón converge here, thick and undiminished, making the trees impervious to damage by any living creature.

The damage done to the forest by all the forces including humans, beastmen, greenskins, Chaos warbands, and even dwarven siege engines, and the paths opened up by cutting through the thorns, would be completely covered up again by the dense growth of trees the next day.

The amount of laurel gems produced in the entire continent is less than a quarter of that in the Laurel Forest. Su Li was of course overjoyed that Hessen Territory could produce this kind of gem.

He immediately asked Fandral with concern: "How is the recovery effect?"

Fandral answered in detail: "It is enough to soak one of these laurel gems in a barrel of wine. After a few days of settling, the whole barrel of wine will regain its effect."

"This fine wine is a fountain of magical power. Drinking one glass can restore one use of magic or divine arts."

Su Li raised his eyebrows and asked, "Doesn't that mean that if each knight carries a pot of wine, the bloodline ability and divine power that can be used on the battlefield will be doubled?"

Normally, an elite knight will have two bloodline abilities and one divine ability.

The combination of three active or passive skills, when used in rotation, can already demonstrate exceptional combat effectiveness. Therefore, some powerful elite knights, in a bloody battle, can kill up to 20 or 30 monsters, or even one or two powerful elite monsters like ogres or centaur chieftains.

However, most knights did not have such extreme performances on the battlefield. They needed to weigh the distribution of power and could not output at full strength, otherwise they would have to wait for death when encountering certain emergencies.

With this laurel gem, the knights can undoubtedly fight more freely. If they can use the skill ten times in a battle, it is basically enough to fight from beginning to end.

Fandral smiled and said, "But it's not that simple. The effect of this laurel gem is diminishing. One pot of wine can only be used four times, and by the fourth time, only half of the magic power is restored. It will take until the next day to restore the powerful effect of the magic source."

"The greatest benefit of this laurel gem is that it can increase the price of our [Golden Amethyst Brandy]."

"As for letting the soldiers drink this level of magical medicinal wine, I think it is too extravagant even considering the wealth of our territory."

This is indeed a problem.

You should know that this fine wine is a specialty of Hesse.

According to Annaliese's estimate, the territory's Amethyst Vineyard can only produce a maximum of 260 bottles of brandy, which is sold at around 2660 gold crowns.

A bottle of brandy that cost 10 gold crowns was enough to buy the worth of most knights and soldiers, especially for armed servants. Most of the money for buying them with such a bottle of wine was the money for their armor, and as for them, they were only worth a bottle cap at most.

This is the current price of Golden Amethyst Brandy before it becomes famous. When this fine wine becomes famous in the empire in the future, and with the effect of the laurel gem, it is not impossible for a bottle of wine to be sold for 100 gold crowns like other fine wines.

By then, to be honest, most knights might not even be worth a bottle of wine.

Fandral continued, "In most territories, this laurel gem is used in conjunction with magic spring water. While the magic spring water isn't as effective as the magic wine, it offers resistance to the drug's effects and has fewer side effects. Based on our test results, the laurel gem soaked in Rainbow Falls spring water is only about half as effective as the wine, but it can be taken five times and still be effective."

"Hehe! My brother, this is one of the reasons why I came to find you." Otter Kappa put his huge head in front of Su Li and blinked: "We are a team guarding this area of ​​water together. Let me tell you a secret that even the Dawn Church doesn't know. The more magic spring water is mixed, the stronger the effect will be, and the more times you can take it!"

Su Li smiled and reached out to touch its smooth head. This big otter really looked like a naughty child, shouting in a duck-like voice, "Brother, do you remember our bond?"

So Su Li smiled and said, "My brother, you are indeed worthy of being my most reliable team bond. Your secret is too important! Tell me in detail, what effect will it have?"

Capa shook his head proudly and said, "You don't know, right? Actually, the effects of medicine can be superimposed and prolonged through complex magic. For example, one magic spring water has only half the effect of magic wine, but two magic spring waters have 6% of the effect, and the number of uses increases to 7. Three magic spring waters have a recovery effect of % of the magic wine, and the number of uses reaches times!"

"I heard there are three magical springs in your territory. I've always wanted to visit them all, but Vidag has always disapproved of me wandering around."

Su Li raised his eyebrows and looked delighted.

This is indeed very important good news.

For other territories, magical springs are extremely rare.

Most of the lakes and streams in the territory are ordinary springs in the mortal world, without any special effects.

A special healing spring, moonlight spring, etc. are enough to become an important landmark of the territory, attracting countless tourists and travelers from the surrounding area to visit and try to touch it.

But it’s different in the Hessen Territory. The waters of Rainbow Falls, Healing Hot Springs, and Lake Rafflin all possess surging magic and spiritual energy.

In particular, the water in Lake Rafflin is sufficient to irrigate the vast plains and tens of thousands of acres of fertile farmland below.

Su Li may not be able to afford the magic wine to the soldiers, but the supply of spring water is definitely inexhaustible.

By then, every extraordinary professional in the Hessen Territory will be able to carry a wine jug with them. When their magic power and spiritual energy are severely depleted, they can take a sip. They can also take a sip during the intervals of fierce battles to restore themselves to a certain state.

One wine jug can be used to drink nectar seven times, so even the most powerful monster can be killed.

If what was inside was not spring water, but some kind of powerful magical wine that could restore life on its own, the effect would be even more amazing.

After taking a sip of the medicinal wine, life and spiritual energy can be restored by 20% to 30%. Wouldn't it turn him into a killing machine on the battlefield?
It feels like just a team of elite knights is enough to surround and kill a powerful champion knight.

However, the value of this thing in battle is still the smallest and can be ignored. After all, there is no saving money on important military equipment. In order to maintain the life of the knights, Su Li is willing to spend a lot of money to let each of them carry professional potions, one of which can restore a large amount of life and endurance.

The greatest effect of this magic spring water is in farming. It can basically ensure that the priests of the Church of Dawn and the knights of the Church of Medicine can use up all their energy for the day and recover easily the next day.

The feeling of running out of spiritual energy is still very painful, and the body and mind seem to be eroded by the wind of chaos.

Therefore, the priests of the church usually do not squander their abilities excessively.

With this laurel gem, the territory's productivity will be further improved! Whether it's the care of spiritual medicines and spiritual grains, or the growth of herds and demi-griffins, they can all be accelerated.

Su Li smiled and said, "I allow you to go near these three magical springs. I look forward to you creating more gem pools."

"Building a gem pool?" Capa shook his head, looking as if he had seen a ghost. "My brother! What nonsense are you talking about? I just surrounded this place and used Mannan's water control technique to gather the magic power here, so that the laurel gem was formed. The real gem pool was not built by me."

"Kappa! How many times have I told you not to trust humans so easily? You've revealed all our secrets."

A clear and lovely voice came from the pool. Su Li and the others immediately turned around in surprise. They had no idea that there was a lurker in the water.

You should know that there are not only elite knights present, but also two champion knights and one chosen knight!
It is truly incredible that the other party can hide his aura so perfectly.

If she wants to assassinate us, it will be impossible to defend against her.

All the knights drew their swords at the first moment and stood guard in front of Su Li.

It's no wonder the knights were so alarmed and overreacted. It was mainly because Hesseburg had been practicing how to prevent assassinations, especially those by smaller men.

The news that the four God-chosen assassins were about to arrive was so overwhelming that the knights could hardly breathe.

They were always on edge, but they didn't expect that there would still be such an unpredictable existence.

But as they saw who was coming, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed.

Because the person who came was really harmless, only about the height of an ordinary human girl of four or five years old, and she only used vines and leaves to cover three important parts of her body.

Faced with so many awe-inspiring swords, she immediately protected herself with the wings behind her and shrank into the water in fear. Her face was full of vigilance, but she still stared at Su Li stubbornly, refusing to retreat.

Su Li didn't know what was going on, but he could clearly see a strong sense of jealousy in her eyes.

It was as if I had snatched away its most beloved toy.

Then Su Li realized that she must be looking for her big cat!

She was afraid that Su Li would continue to deceive her, so she kidnapped her best friend and patron saint, Otter Kappa.

So Su Li smiled, waved to the knights who were making a fuss around him, and said, "Put away your weapons, you are scaring the little girl."

Then Su Li walked to the edge of the pool, stretched out his hand and said to the little girl, "Hello, you are the water fairy Vidage, right?"

Although the little girl was very jealous, she was still very kind. She blinked her big, sparkling sapphire eyes at Su Li, stretched out her hand, and shook hands with Su Li: "I am...ah!"

Then she cried out in pain, hugged her right hand to her chest in agony, and looked at Su Li with a frown.

Su Li was stunned. If someone didn't know, they would think that he was plotting against the little girl on purpose. He looked at his right hand and found no hidden weapon.

"Your ring. The iron will burn the fairy." Vidag said weakly.

(End of this chapter)