Heart of the Castle

Chapter 493 Siege, Negotiation, Governor

Sir Bandara must have been a model knight when he was young. Although his tall figure was a little stooped due to the passage of time, he was still a strong and agile old man.His hair and beard have been washed white by the wind and frost, and only a few traces of the original tan are left on the edges.What surprised Li Wei was that when the old man walked out of the gate of Kaidar Fort, he was wearing a full set of knight armor, and there was a two-handed epee of amazing size hanging from his waist.

"Honorable Kingdom Special Envoy, I am very glad that Kaidar Fort can receive such an honorable guest from you. I am the lord here, Lord Tusker Bandara, and I am a high-ranking knight." He spoke in an accent, with only a hint of a foreign accent. When talking about his title of knight, he touched the golden sword inlaid on the armor with his hand, and his wrinkled face showed a proud expression.

Li Wei nodded to him, and at the same time kept in mind the rules that he, as the envoy of the kingdom and the powerful Viscount, could not return gifts to those with lower status.This requires the young Griffon Lord to concentrate, because from Sir Bandara, he saw a shadow very similar to the Grand Knight Commander Martin and Grand Knight Herbert, as well as the awe-inspiring Dear clank and iron bones.

Sir Bandara then introduced several important people under him to Levi, including the quasi-knight Duncan as his emissary, the bachelor Crijer who was in charge of the accounts, and several other names.Every time a name was mentioned, that person saluted Li Wei and the others sincerely and humbly. However, like Duncan Knight, their performance revealed a rustic feeling that they had never seen the world.

This formal meeting etiquette took more than ten minutes, and then Sir Bandara invited the Kingdom Mission to visit Kaidar Castle, but his tone was a little uncertain.Li Wei noticed the old man's worries, so he told him that he and Sir Rodriguez were very happy to accept the invitation, but it was good for the accompanying Griffin Knight to stay outside.

This just solved the problem that Sir Bandara had been worried about. The room in Kaidar Castle is too narrow, and it may be difficult to accommodate so many people at the same time. "Awaiting your orders, Your Excellency the Special Envoy." He performed a standard knight salute again as the end of the meeting etiquette.

After entering the gate of Kaidar Fort, Li Wei found that the sentry tower was narrower than it looked from the outside, on the one hand because of the thickness of the outer wall, on the other hand because there were many wooden barrels and dilapidated buildings in the tower. of boxes.Some warriors are in charge of guarding here. They wear the same old leather armor that doesn't fit well as the young servant, and they hold a sharpened and roasted wooden spear in their hands. bow.When they saw Sir Bandara and Levi approaching, they all bowed deeply, and none of them stayed in their posts.

Li Wei didn't need to use probing techniques at all to see that this was a group of unqualified fighters, not much better than untrained militiamen.This made his good impression of Sir Bandara worse, because as a high-ranking knight, he was obliged to let these soldiers receive military training and ration them with more sophisticated weapons and equipment.

There was an obvious depression in the middle of the spiral upward granite steps, and it completely collapsed on the second floor, and steep wooden stairs were required to reach the third and fourth floors.A few servants on the second floor helped Sir Bandara take off that heavy armor, because it is simply impossible to climb the wooden ladder wearing this suit, and the weight of the armor itself is not enough for the wooden ladder easily bearable.

Sir Bandara's room was located on the fourth floor of Kaidar Castle, and the entire floor was owned by him alone, but it was still not spacious.The time it took to get here made Li Wei's patience a lot worse, and it was even more difficult to find a place to stay among the dusty old flags and wooden barrels.With the help of Knight Duncan, Sir Bandara finally sorted out a space enough for several people to talk, and then greeted Levi and Sir Rodriguez to sit down.

"Knight Duncan, let the chef prepare well, don't spare the piglets and hens, we will have lunch with His Excellency the Kingdom Envoy." After sitting down, Sir Bandara ordered Knight Duncan, who bowed deeply to him, Then he climbed down the wooden ladder with difficulty.

"Your Excellency, there are no good things in the backcountry, please forgive me." Sir Bandara watched Duncan Knight leave, then turned to Levi and said, "Would you like some goat's milk?" He took out a full bottle of milk from behind a wooden barrel It was the dusty copper jug ​​that said, "Goat's milk just squeezed this morning, fresh, clean, sweet as honey."

"Thank you, but no need." Li Wei politely rejected him, and then asked in a straightforward tone, "Sir Bandara, we encountered some orc robbers last night, and they seem to be running amok in your fief, looting villages , burning down houses, is this happening a lot recently?"

"Damn these orc robbers!" the old lord cursed in a low voice, pounding the copper pot on the table, his beard trembling with anger, "it turns out that there are not many of them, Your Excellency, please forgive me. These orcs are usually Activities on the Moon Whisper Plain, although they sometimes harass the villages and towns under the jurisdiction of Westwind County, they rarely come to places near Firmeyer. But since half a year ago, the situation has changed. The activities of orc bandits have not only become more frequent, but also Extending further and further to the east, even Kaydar Castle has been harassed by orcs several times."

"Then how did you deal with it? Hiding behind the high walls of the castle and letting the orc robbers plunder the village? Last night the alarm bell was sounded in the village we were in, but no army came to support it." Li Wei did not hesitate. He asked relaxedly, "The strength of those orc bandits is by no means something untrained militiamen can resist. If we didn't happen to be there, it would be difficult for the villagers to defend the village with their own strength."

"The porcupines in Kaidar Castle will not be willing to hide behind high walls. Although I am old, I am not dead!" Sir Bandara roared, shaking his fists, "Half a year ago, when the orc robbers first appeared , I once led all the strength that Kaidar Fort can muster, and gave them a head-on blow!"

"So what's the result?" Sir Rodriguez, who was always listening, asked calmly.

Sir Bandara's face was flushed red at first, and then turned pale again, "As a result..." His lips trembled twice, and deep sorrow was revealed in his gray eyes, "As a result, I lost a third of my life. Second's soldiers, two vassal knights and my only grandson, Chekai... Ah, Chekai, who is wearing the family armor and looks radiant, the only Chekai..." Two big and muddy tears rolled down the old man's cheeks, His hands trembled, he took out something from the wooden box beside him, put it on his lap and stroked it gently.

Li Wei looked at the thing carefully. At first he thought it was a piece of furniture, but he quickly overturned his opinion.That thing was a shield, or what remained of a shield.It is the same as the equipment used by many low-level knights from ordinary families. The main material of the shield is a solid oak board, and then the outside is reinforced with iron nails and iron sheets. Li Wei can see that it has been painted, which is vaguely Depicts a quadruped without its head and upper body.

"Even though half a year has passed, whenever I think about it, my heart still bleeds like it was torn open. The hope of the Bandara family, the genius of the Bandara family, Qie Kai has just realized Sow the seed of vindictiveness, and become a real knight... I really hope that I can use my old bones to die for him..." The old jazz's voice was hoarse and choked with painful memories. "I still remember him and I when we parted ways. He was on horseback, turning around and beckoning to me. I'll come back with the heads of those orc robbers... that's what he told me, but when the retreating soldiers When he fled back, he only brought back the half of the shield that was smashed by the orcs..."

"So have you thought about revenge?" Li Wei asked tentatively.

"Why don't you want to? It's even a dream! It doesn't matter if it costs me my life!" Sir Bandara growled a little out of composure, and then he covered his face with his hands, "But...but I have no chance of winning, Not at all, and Scholar Ke Lijie told me that the military presence of Kaidar Fort is a powerful threat to the orc robbers. As long as this castle is still there, they will not dare to burn, kill and loot unscrupulously. That's why I didn't talk to those orc robbers. Fight to the death, no... ah, ah... Chekai... I didn't..."

The old man's voice gradually weakened, and finally it was almost inaudible.A gloomy atmosphere enveloped the surroundings. Levi and Sir Rodriguez looked at each other in blank dismay, and they both lost confidence in persuading Sir Bandara to negotiate with the orcs.The battle between orcs and humans has a long history. For hundreds of thousands of years, the blood flowing out of both sides is probably enough to fill the entire Oath River.There are hundreds of territories like Kaidar Fort in Xifeng County. How many of them had their relatives and friends killed by the butcher knives of orc robbers?How difficult is it to get them to give up their blood feud?

A sharp horn sounded to cut through the silence, woo—, and then the same horn sounded from another direction, woo—————, the sound was hurried and full of fear.Sir Bandara jumped up from his seat, "Is this a siren?" He muttered in disbelief, "What happened?"

A sound of hurried footsteps sounded from under the tower, and half of Knight Duncan's body was exposed from the stairs, "Sir Bandara, Your Excellency the Kingdom's Special Envoy, there are many orc robbers outside, and they have already surrounded Kaidar Castle!" He had dropped his helmet, and his face was pale with the marks of excitement and panic.

"Orc robbers? How many?" Ser Bandara asked.

Duncan Knight's answer convinced Levi that he didn't pay attention to the bachelor's culture class-if Bachelor Crij was as enthusiastic about education as those bachelors in the north. "Count, count!"

"Scholar Cleary should really listen to your answer, Knight Duncan." Sir Bandara frowned a little angrily, "One hundred? Or two hundred? Even if it's five hundred, why can't you count them? What about Qing?"

Cavalier Duncan shook his head frantically in answer to Sir Bandara's question, "No, it's not 100 or [-], and it's not more than [-]. In short, please go to the observation tower to find out." His voice was a little excited. Out of shape, it sounds sharp, like a bobcat whose tail has been stepped on.

"How many orcs are there?" Ser Bandara frowned, grabbed his long sword and walked towards the narrow ladder leading to the watchtower.Levi and Sir Rodriguez looked at each other, then stood up and followed behind him.

Sir Bandara opened the wooden door leading to the watchtower, and a strong cold wind rushed in, causing several people to shiver at the same time.The old jazz then took a step out, and when Li Wei was about to keep up, he found that he couldn't go out at all.This is because the watchtower of Kaidar Fort is very narrow, only one person can stand on it, and there is no decoration, only a rusty iron chain as a handrail.

"Benevolent Father God..." Sir Bandara glanced outside, and then made a sound between a moan and a murmur, holding on to the iron chain as if he was a little unsteady.Due to his large movements, the iron chain suddenly shook, making a harsh creaking sound, and rusted iron filings fell down one after another.Cavalier Duncan hurriedly hugged the old Jazz's waist, Levi and Sir Rodriguez also helped, and finally brought Sir Bandara back safely.

"Sir Bandara, what's the matter with you?" Levi asked curiously.

However, the elderly lord did not answer, but sighed almost groaningly, his face turned pale, the muscles in his arms and neck were stiff like ropes, his eyes were staring straight ahead, as if he saw something very terrifying like.

"What happened outside? Can you scare the well-informed old jazz into such a state?" Levi frowned, and looked out in front of the wooden door leading to the watchtower.Because the light inside Kaidar Fort was relatively dark, and the sunlight outside was too bright, Li Wei didn’t see anything at first, but his vision soon returned to normal, and the scene in front of him made Li Wei’s eyes widen, almost exclaimed blurted out.

"It's really an orc, God of War Barud, there are a lot of orcs." Li Wei swallowed, and said to Sir Rodriguez with some effort.

Fort Kaidar is located in a low hill, and the terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack. This sentry tower has indeed experienced several sieges, but with its solid walls, most of the offensives can only return in vain.

In the centuries-old history of the Kingdom of Arthur, this sentry tower has only fallen once. That was when the evil disaster broke out more than 100 years ago. The defenders were completely destroyed.As a result, the Bandara family suffered heavy losses. Both the head of the family and the direct heirs died in this battle, and the blood of the family was almost cut off.

It wasn't until more than ten years later that an illegitimate son who successfully obtained the status of a knight—that is, the father of Lord Tusker Bandara—regained the recognition of the sheriff of Westwind County, and the porcupine flag could continue to fly on this land.But now, even Li Wei has to admit that if there is no way to stop the orcs, I am afraid that this sentry tower is about to usher in the second fall.

An unprecedentedly large-scale orc bandit appeared near Kaidar Castle. The number of them was so large that Li Wei couldn't help but think of a green roaring ocean.He saw dozens of tall totem poles, some thick and some thin, most of which were made of giant beast bones and heavy iron wood.Hundreds of flags of various colors fluttered around the totem poles, and under the flags and totem poles, almost all the orc tribes in the entire Eastern Gulun gathered: the outermost were thousands of goblin slaves, and these cowardly creatures were holding all kinds of tattered weapons , although the individual combat power is not worth mentioning, but the huge number makes them opponents that cannot be underestimated; next is the half-orc cavalry riding a warg, these guys are equipped with leather armor, scimitars and short-throwing spears. Agile as the wind, they are light cavalry troops comparable to demon riders; orc ax throwers follow closely behind. These orcs are not very burly, just like ordinary people, but their right arms are surprisingly developed, reaching a full 1.5 Meters in length, they can easily throw the double-bladed throwing axes 50 meters away. Although the shooting range is inferior to that of human archers, the power is far beyond that of ordinary bows and arrows, even heavy cavalry units have to do it Headache.

The combination of goblin cannon fodder, half-orc cavalry, and orc axe-throwers is troublesome enough, but there are even more formidable foes among the orc hordes.Frightening gigantic eagles with a wingspan of nearly 20 meters were flying in the air. Although there were few in number, they were able to cover the midday sun when they flew over Kaidar Castle.The voice of the giant eagle is as low as a horn, and it seems to be able to penetrate the skin, which makes people feel frightened.Next came the roaring orc warriors of the Moonwhispering Plain. These most savage and strongest orcs wore all kinds of metal chain mail and formed a loose formation. Swords, some well-equipped orc captains let out their signature roars while facing their own subordinates who were kicking and beating to maintain order.

In the middle of the orc tribe camp stood dozens of woolly giant elephants as tall as hills. Some tall orcs were twice as tall as the orc roaring warriors riding on the giant elephants, holding hammers and stone axes of astonishing size in their hands. Well, one guy even slung a whole log with a sharpened front as a spear over his shoulder.Beside the Giant Elephant Cavalry is a surprisingly tall totem pole. Unlike other totem poles, this totem pole seems to be made of steel, and it has a dull luster unique to metal under the sunlight.

Duncan Knight whispered the name of the tribe he recognized: "Hardfoot Tribe, Crypt Tribe, Pig Worship Tribe, Dog Chew Tribe, Mountain Eagle Tribe... Oh, damn it, the giant tribe with mammoths is also here It's gone." When it came to the last tribe, Duncan Knight's voice trembled, followed by a series of strange light clicks.

Li Wei turned his head and found that Duncan Knight's face became almost as pale as a dead man, and his eyes showed deep despair. "Juyuan Tribe? What is that, is it scary?"

"It's a tribe of giants. According to legend, they have the blood of mammoths, so they can breed mammoth giants as mounts." Sir Rodriguez said, and then he looked at Levi's surprised expression and added softly, " That's what old Dish said, and he's here now, up there."

(End of this chapter)