Time flies, and when the winter winds begin to force people to change into heavy clothes, the castle cooks begin to prepare a feast.

When Charles' parents were still alive, they celebrated together at this time of year, but now Charles is the only one in the halls of the University.

Viscount Hou'an's caravan still hadn't returned from the imperial capital, and Charles's application to inherit his father's title and fief hadn't yet been settled, so he was starting to get a little anxious, and he didn't know if he could get the news he wanted in the end. What would he do if someone from the imperial capital sent another stranger here?

Charles sat in the hall with a serious expression, and the delicacies in front of him did not make him any happier, and the fire in the fireplace made him feel even hotter. Little Jim, a clever ghost, saw his appearance and knew that Charles didn't like the current temperature, so he hurriedly ran over and shrunk the vents to a smaller size.

Among these minions, Charles's favorite is little Jim, and his wit is beyond the reach of anyone else.

Charles stood up and pondered: this year's harvest was good, and every family had a full house with grain. Of course, white bread is not something they can eat. Although Charles had learned to be lenient to them from an early age, he would not do anything to pamper his subjects.

He silently walked to the window and looked at the snow outside, it was so thick that even the steps of the castle were buried. It seems that the coming year will be another good harvest year.

The snow slowly stopped, and the winter sun seemed to be closer to people, making it particularly clear and dazzling. But the temperature of the sun seemed to have been cooled by ice and snow, and Charles unconsciously tightened his fur, which was a fine fox skin, or a hunter that his neighbor had hunted while he was still alive. Charles couldn't help but feel a little sad for him when he thought of this, after all, their relationship was once so good.

Charles was suddenly a little happy again, it was a good thing that the snow had stopped, and counting the days, Viscount Hou'an's caravan should be back soon.

About two days later, Viscount Hou'an sent someone to the castle of the Charles. It was a lame old man, so cold but wearing a thin autumn coat, he shivered from the cold, and drank a large bowl of hot water before he eased up and told Charles what he was here for.

Viscount Hou'an's caravan was robbed on its way to the imperial capital, and the gang of bandits and robbers from the north did not leave quickly after taking the money as usual, but took them to a forest near the town of Rezk, where they were imprisoned for a long time before they were released.

However, it had nothing to do with Charles, the little money he invested was not enough to make him anxious, and the only thing he cared about was whether his letter was sent or not. But apparently, the letter had been snatched by the bandits, and Charles was very upset, unsure if someone from the imperial capital would tell him that he would accept the territory as soon as he opened the castle door the next day.

This is my territory, and I will not allow anyone to take it from me!

So Charles began to think about forming his own private army, according to the laws of the empire, as long as you can afford it, the nobles with titles have every right to form their own army.

Strictly speaking, the Charr did not have a noble title at all, and were not allowed to form their own army. But he couldn't care so much now, he couldn't allow others to take away what belonged to him from his hands, and he could only watch without doing anything.

After sending the lame old man away, Charles began to recruit new soldiers, and the people of the village knew him and they knew him. Although the children were afraid of him and didn't play with him in those years, in the end everyone grew up.

After a week of recruitment, a total of eight people in the village were willing to join the charr's army, and these were the good guys of the village, and the charr knew them as well as he knew himself.

Now that we have the manpower, it's time to consider arming them, but the only blacksmiths in the village are Hami's family, and they usually have no problem making iron and agricultural tools, but they can't make weapons and equipment.

So Charles had to find a way to get the standard armor and swords from other sources, but fortunately there were many weapons merchants in Rezk City, so he sent the clever ghost Little Jim to find a merchant in the town for me.

But Charles didn't wait for him to return.

It was the night after Charles had commissioned him to leave Sebala, when a well-armed force of about sixty men attacked his castle.

That night, Charles had practiced his swordsmanship in the middle of the castle as usual, and was ready to go to bed, when he had just laid down on his bed when there was a commotion outside.

An old mother burst into Charles's room, screaming and bouncing as if someone had put a soldering iron under her ass.

Charles tried her best to calm her down, but soon found it in vain. But his faithful butler quickly relieved him, and the news he brought was simple, just a few words: the Yankees had called.

It was only then that Charles finally figured out the cause and effect, why Viscount Hou'an's caravan was robbed by a gang of bandits who didn't look like bandits, why they were still imprisoned after paying the money, and he understood all of this, but it was too late.

The villagers were no match for this group of Yankees, and they soon fled in front of this army. Although Charles has known them for a long time, and they are very fond of Charles, it is more important to save their lives if compared to their own lives.

Fortunately, no matter who the ruler of a place is, he always needs the people to serve him, and this army ignores the meaning of this group of unarmed peasants, and goes straight to the castle of the Charr.

Two of the recruits recruited by Charles had already fled while taking advantage of the chaos, and the rest were all pale as they looked at the crowd outside. Maxim looked at Charles tremblingly, trembling and pleading, "Master, I don't want to die, please let me out." “

Charles had known the grocer's son at a very young age, he was two years older than Charles, and when Charles was a child, he had given Charles a straw horse, which Charles kept until it was completely scattered. He had been betrothed to the daughter of the village tavern owner last month, and Charles could understand his feelings, but he could not forgive him for his impending betrayal.

It wasn't the first time Charles had killed someone, and it wasn't until the others realized what he had done when he pulled his long sword out of Maxim's neck. Maxim looked at Charles in disbelief, clutching the gaping hole in his neck, blood spurting out like a fountain. His body twitched, and he looked at the others pleadingly, begging them to help him. But no one else dared to look at him, as if it were a sin to look at him too much. Gradually, he stopped struggling and stared blankly at the ceiling. He's dead.

Charles was very sorry for what had happened, Maxim had been his friend, and he cherished their past, but since they had accepted their employment, they could not break their oath to themselves.

At this moment, Charles's old butler grabbed him with a serious face and said, "Master, you go quickly, we will help you stop them." “