Nantes had not yet been incorporated into Brittany at this time, but Geoffrey, Count of Rennes, was already very familiar with the city, and the steps on the high wall used to be the passage he climbed as a child, and the top of this ancient wall still has remnants of the Runiwen graffiti left by the Vikings, most of which are boring, such as "I slept with Ingigs" or "Solny did a shot, Helgicar", and some described the treasures buried nearby, and marked with some names. As a child, the Earl of Wren tried to dig up the nearby mound at the location and distance mentioned in these inscriptions, and only found a few fragments of a rusted helmet.

Before the English had spent Christmas in the city, King Edgar had handed over all the Breton prisoners of war to the Count of Rennes to deal with them, and many of the lords saw the reversal of the situation and almost switched to the side of the Earl of Rennes, and most of the rest would be used in exchange for ransom and split equally with the English. Due to the large savings of the Count of Odo in Nantes, Edgar not only captured a large amount of grain and grass, but also obtained half of the Duchy's treasury, plus countless armor and swords and spears collected from the battlefield, the harvest of this expedition was extremely large, and the captured gold and silver cellars were transported back to the country by sea, and some reinforcements arrived in Nantes by sea on the twelfth day after Christmas. King Edgar rewarded the soldiers in the Breton banquet, perhaps inspired by the spoils of war, and many of the wealthy soldiers forgot for a moment the heavy casualties of the previous ones, while the newly arrived Theon was blushing at the harvest of his comrades and began to look forward to the battle ahead.

During the feast, the lords of Brittany formally pledged allegiance to Geoffrey Grenone, who, as an illegitimate child, never imagined that he would inherit the title of Duke of Brittany, but this time, he was supported not only by the King of England, but also by the former Duchess Bertha. Of course, this matter was not without difficulties, but in the face of the cause of fighting the Normans, Geoffrey's origin was deliberately ignored by everyone, and Edgar also assured him that he would personally persuade King Philip to accept this inheritance, after all, the French king needed a Brittany independent of Normandy.

By the time the King of England and the new Duke of Brittany returned to battle, their forces had reached 10,000, of which 7,000 were English. The army marched mightily north, stopping along the way, where news from the north revealed that Alan Lufus had joined forces with Drogo and Wren was putting up a stubborn resistance.

"Who is currently in command of the French army?" Upon seeing the fortifications around Wren, Edgar asked the messenger of the message.

"Your Majesty, it's Lord Stephen Henry, Lady Bertha's nephew." The French knight replied.

Edgar muttered to himself, "No wonder. Stephen Henri de Blois is now a fledgling knight, but this knight was also a famous crusader general in later history, and his son was King Stephen of the last Norman dynasty. When several columns of England and Bretons attacked at the same time, the Norman besieging army was completely desperate, and their lord could only flee with his knights with his own knights, and the tents of Drogo and Alain were completely abandoned outside the city, and their costumes and treasures became the spoils of war between the English and the Brittany.

When he saw Stephen de Blois, the King of England was holding a ring in his hand, and after saluting King Edgar with armor, the Blois knight immediately said: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your timely assistance, my aunt would have liked to thank you in person, but she was unfortunately infected with an epidemic and could not come." ”

Edgar was taken aback, he didn't expect a plague to occur in the city, and was about to inquire in detail, Stephen took the initiative to explain: "Originally, we thought it was a plague, but there has been no large-scale outbreak so far, and for the sake of prudence, we have sent all the sick people to the church. ”

The king was relieved for a moment, and then asked, "Where is Lord Hugh now?" ”

"Your Majesty, when the Normans came ten days ago, Lord Hughard thought that the castle of Dore had just been besieged and was in ruins, so he suggested that we concentrate on defending Wren, while he ambushed and harassed the enemy's rear to support us in defending the city. Not long ago they had burned down a stable in the enemy's camp, and we had taken the opportunity to go out of the city and raid for a while, and now that the enemy had retreated, I think Lord Hugh would have gone after him. ”

Edgar didn't worry too much after hearing this, Hugh had always been cautious, and his command was all the elite of Northumbria, and with these warriors armed with iron helmets and chain armor, it was enough to go to the frontier to hunt the legendary trolls and giants, let alone hunt down a group of remnants of the retreating enemy.

The patrolling English cavalry spotted the glittering shields and a group of heavily armed warriors from the coast, and the Englishman immediately recognized the men and horses of Hughard Barn on the other side, and he immediately rode back from the heights and informed King Edgar of the news.

Seeming a little dejected when Hughard Barn arrived, the northern lord's guard threw a colourful banner in front of the king and explained: "Your Majesty, we have not been able to catch up with the enemy's commanders, and have only killed a dozen of their knights and captured this banner. ”

Edgar didn't seem to mind, and immediately said to Hughed: "My lord, this time we have won, even if Alan Lufus runs away again, it is a big deal to defeat him next time and tie him back." Now let's go to the banquet hall to celebrate, I have prepared the best ale, enough to moisten everyone's throats, and there are many beauties in Duke Geoffrey's court, now let's forget all the blood for a moment and relax for the night. ”

The Northumbrians cheered, and the king brought them into the banquet, where the smell of roasted meat made the warriors forget about the days of battle and join in the feast. At the same time, Edgar sent for more than fifty sets of chain mail and eighty swords, and gave them to the Northumbrians in the hall, and distributed rings and gold and silver wine cups to everyone, and Edgar gave Huwell Barn an amphora carved with a golden dragon, which was the treasure of the Count of Pontilville, and Edgar killed all the hounds of the Lord of Breton before he found them in his hall.

"My lord, in view of your valiant performance and faithful service in many years of war, we have decided to appoint you as Lord of York, and to give you a royal battle flag, and you will have a higher rank than the other county governors of the north, and you will have the right to use the title of High County Governor." Edgar added.

With great emotion, he drew his sword from his waist, knelt on the ground with the hilt of his sword, and swore as if he were holding a cross: "Your Majesty, my sword will always belong to you, my blood will always be yours, and whoever opposes you will be my enemy, God witnesses, in the name of St. Cuthbert, I swear to always fight before you, never to forget the honor and the ring you have bestowed, and to take a step back from the battle!" After saying this blood oath, he kissed the king's ring and formally accepted the appointment.