Arjod, together with the army led by Duke Mason, gradually approached Lübeck, the territory leading to Schleswigde, a small independent kingdom that was not affiliated with any kingdom. When the Mason army reached the border with Lübeckshire, the Duke sent an envoy to the castle in Lübeckshire to inform the Count of Lübeck and ask for his domain, which was a courtesy derived from the nobility, but in fact, Abel the Duke of Mason did not care about the reply of the Count of Lübeck, if you are marching with an army of thousands of people, then the best thing for the Lord of the People along the way is to either entertain you or sit in the castle and watch you leave quietly.

"Will the Count of Lübeck let us know its territory?" Arold asked Abel the Duke of Mason.

"Yes, Lübeck are weak tribes, and they don't have the power to stop us." Duke Mason said to Arrod.

Arold rode his horse and looked into the distance, several inland rivers ran through the entire territory of Lübeckshire, Arold looked back, only to see an army of more than 4,500 Masons, closely following behind them, the banner of the Masons was unfurled and looked like an ocean in the distance, and the footsteps of their movements shook the earth like thunder.

"That chicken this morning is so hard that it almost bursts my teeth, can't the cook in the castle kitchen find something fresh?" The man in the gray cloak, with a hungry face and blackened teeth, rode on a ploughing horse, and as a yeoman farmer it was now his time to serve in the military for the Count of Lübeck, and he was working with another yeoman farmer. View the border as a patrol cavalry.

"Oh, you don't know our mistress, she eats all the good food in the castle, look at her ass, oh, that little chair can't hold it at all." His companion pulled out a leather pouch from the right side of his mount, filled it with some ale, and handed it to the grumbling Ash Cloak beside him.

"Haha, ale, that's great." The Grey Cloak took the leather and was overjoyed. He picked up the wine and took a sip. Being able to take a sip on a business trip is a beautiful thing.

"Did you hear anything?"

"What, I didn't hear anything but the sound of the wine in my throat." The ash cloak lowered its skin. I wiped the wine from the corner of my mouth with my hand. Thought his companion was joking.

"Oh. Jesus Christ is above, what is that? They rode to the border river, and on the other side of the river they were presented with a large army marching. The coloured flags of the earls and knights appeared on the ground like waves, the knights glistened in the sun with their armor, the infantry with spears rubbed shoulders, and the sound of armor and weapons rubbing against each other was like a stream.

"The army, it is a large army, remember the coat of arms of the banner at the head, and we will go back and report to the Earl." As a cavalry patrolling the border, as soon as there is any border matter, he must immediately report back to the Earl of Lübeck, and the appearance of a large army on the border like this is a more urgent situation, and it is up to the Earl to decide whether to negotiate or to hold the castle with the city gates closed.

"You're saying there's an army of thousands of people on my border." The Earl of Lübeck was at this time in the hall of the lord with his wife and sons, and when he heard the news, the Earl of Lübeck was surprised and rose from his lord's seat.

"Yes, Lord Earl, an army of thousands of people has appeared on the border of our territory, and they are coming here soon." The light cavalry patrolling the frontier knelt down on one knee and bowed back to the Earl of Lübeck the Younger.

"You find out who those armies belong to? What is the flag coat of arms of the leader, is it our enemy? Taken astonished, the Earl of Lübeck sat back on his throne, and asked his men with a pale face.

"Please don't worry, Lord Earl, if it were an enemy, it would have already attacked." At this time, the Earl of Lübeck got the palace minister, and hurriedly stood up and said.

"The Earl has a messenger coming." When the courtiers of the Earl of Lübeck were discussing countermeasures, the envoy of the Duke of Mason, riding on horseback with two retinues, knocked on the castle of the Count of Lübeck, and the attendants guarding the door hurriedly reported to the Earl.

"Emissary? Call in. The Earl of Lübeck hurriedly let the messenger in, only to see a messenger wearing the Duke Mason's coat enter, and the messenger took off his hat when he entered.

"The Duke of Mason salutes Lord Earl Lübeck." The envoy saw a fate noblewoman sitting on the lord's throne, dressed in Germanic robes, with an emerald and gold pendant around his neck, and a chubby noblewoman sitting beside him.

"Oh, is it Lord Mason?" After listening to the words of the envoy, the Count of Lübeck was relieved, although the Duchy of Mason had no communication with Lübeck, but as Germans and fellows, nothing terrible would happen, and the Duke of Mason did not covet the title of Lübeck.

"Yes, the Duke of Mason is leading an army to fight against the King of Denmark, passing through Lübeckshire, so I would like to ask the Earl to allow us to pass through your domain." The envoy stated the Duke of Mason's request, and after listening to the Duke of Mason's request, the Earl of Lübeck quickly nodded in agreement.

"Lord Earl, we should invite Duke Mason to the banquet." When the envoy withdrew, the court minister of the Count of Lübeck hurriedly spoke.

"Invite Duke Mason? Here's why. Count Lübeck asked curiously.

"We in Lübeck have been living in the gap between the Vikings and the Slavs, and now that Duke Mason has arrived in our territory, this is a good time to associate with a powerful duke." The palace minister said to the Count of Lübeck.

"Feast the Duke, but they have to fight against the Vikings, and if the King of Denmark knows about it, I'm afraid Lübeck will never be at peace." Count Lübeck frowned, he smashed his mouth and said with some worry, Lübeck is a weak tribe, when the Vikings came, they immediately paid the ransom, and when the Slavs came, they immediately offered supplies, and in the long run, the Count of Lübeck looked cowardly and unfortunate.

"That's right, those Vikings are not easy to mess with, don't look at Duke Mason with such a large army, but once the Vikings are angry, the fall of the Masons will be overnight, let's not cause trouble." The military governor of the Count of Lübeck, a balding fat old man with a bulging beer belly, said this to the Count of Lübeck.

"Well, let's do things according to our traditions." The Count of Lübeck put his hand on his forehead, and after a long time of deliberation, he raised his hand and waved it, giving orders to his courtiers.

"That's fine, when the victory is not decided, let's remain neutral." Lübeck's courtiers also thought it was a good idea and would not offend any of the parties.

"Uh-huh, that's fine." A smile appeared on the countenance of the Earl of Lübeck, who stood up and held his youngest son in his arms, and reached out to tease the younger.

The Earl of Lübeck sent people to return with the envoy of Mason, at this time the Duke of Mason's army had arrived a few miles away from the castle, because the sun was already setting in the west, so the Mason's army was encamped, and the Duke of Mason and the other counts were waiting for the invitation of the Count of Lübeck, but they did not expect to get a reply that they were not allowed to enter the castle.

"Damn the Earl of Lübeck, he didn't invite us, is that looking down on us?" The Count of Weimar shouted loudly, and the vassals in the Duke of Mason's tent were very angry, according to aristocratic etiquette, the Duke and many Counts were guests in Lübeck, but the Count of Lübeck, as the host, did not invite them into the castle as guests, which was really rude.

"Well, didn't the Count of Lübeck bring me abundant food, we are just transiting, so why bother." Abel the Duke of Mason reassured the vassals.

"The Earl of Lübeck must be worried about getting involved in our feud with the Vikings." Arold knew what the Count of Lübeck was thinking, and said to the Duke of Abel.

"I heard that once the Lübecks saw the Viking warships, they immediately prepared the ransom and put it on the shore, and if they saw the Slavs haunting, they couldn't wait to put the gifts on the border, haha, what a group of cowards." The Count of Weimar said with a sneer, and the other vassals of the Duchy of Mason also laughed, extremely shameful for the Lubeck people's head rats, but Arold understood the difficulties of the Lübeck people, this is the way for the weak to survive.

The Earl of Lübeck did not neglect the Duke of Mason, and the food and wine sent from Lübeck Castle were full of five carriages, so that the nobles of the Duchy of Mason had a good night in this Lübeck territory, drinking and eating meat under the night sky, Arold stood outside his tent, raised his head and looked at the stars in the night sky, from here he could smell the salty smell of the sea, this smell made Arold feel a lot more at ease, they only had to follow the coast to reach Schleisug.

In the early morning of the second day, the Mason army was ready to put out the bonfire, the horses were fed, the knights rode on their horses with the help of the squires, the armor was bright, and the banner was held high, when the Mason army passed the castle of Lübeck, the Count of Lübeck stood on the wall of his castle, he held the wall and looked at the Mason army in front of his castle, and could not help but sigh with emotion, the Lübeck tribe was few and poor, and the strength of the whole country was only two or three hundred, and the thousands of heavily armed troops in front of him, It was an eye-opener for him, and he thought that if he had such a strong army, he would not need to bribe the Vikings and Slavs. (To be continued......)