In the summer of 1177 in the Empire, the once beautiful and vibrant city of Grey Keep had long since lost its former appearance, and after almost all the people were relocated, there was no trace of the bustling and lively atmosphere in the city

Except for the lonely and widowed old people who really can't leave and find it difficult to move, most of the time the busy streets are deserted, and occasionally there is a rush of footsteps and shouts, and most of them are the movements of the troops stationed here

The thatched huts in the slums were demolished, straw and wood were made into torches and arrows and improvised shields, the stone houses of the commoners were also demolished, and the pieces of bluestone mixed with mud and sand were simply polished to become the source of trebuchet ammunition......

During the more than six months of defending the city, the combined forces of Rolf and the Pope left more than 60,000 corpses under the half-collapsed walls of the Grey Keep, and to Leo's surprise, the number of wounded was far lower than the number of deaths, perhaps due to the cold and harsh weather in the northern territory and the lack of supplies, or perhaps in this dark age, the superior simply made ordinary soldiers into consumables

At least Leo has seen many times that those wounded enemy soldiers, except for the knights and elites who will be treated and rescued, the rest of the people, even without the help of the principality's army, when cleaning the battlefield, the enemy will personally execute those wounded soldiers, maybe their armor will soon appear on the bodies of others to attack the city again, and then repeat the ......

In this regard, Leo had the opportunity to ask the Marquis of Auston, and finally the explanation given by the Marquis made Leo a little stunned, he always thought that he had seen this era clearly, but after listening to it, he realized that he knew far from enough

Take the large number of cannon fodder soldiers forcibly recruited by Rolfe as an example, most of these soldiers who are under the aristocratic realm, born as farmers and craftsmen, have no so-called personal value and dignity at all, in the eyes of many lords, a small group of such people is even more valuable than a horse, and the right of the first night that Leo has envied for a long time is also a real existence......

Alston's explanations made Leo sigh for a long time when he was alone, and he finally understood why some small favors in his opinion could be so embraced, and why the nobles, including his subordinates and allies, looked at him so strangely in many cases

In addition to these, even after a winter, there were still a large number of uncleaned corpses under the walls of the Grey Castle, which gradually revealed themselves as the summer temperature rose and the snow melted, and then slowly decomposed, and the pungent smell could not be hidden even within the sealed houses

Leo, who knew the horror of the plague, had no choice but to let the soldiers pour the oil from the city walls and then set fire to the corpses, but it was rare that the coalition forces did not take the opportunity to attack while these tasks were being carried out, and if it were not for the fear of bows and arrows, I am afraid that Rolf and the Pope would even have plans to help

**********************

"This is hell, I really don't know how to meet the ancestors of my family after I die......"

In the Grey Castle government hall, everyone gathered again today, and before the meeting officially opened, the Duke of Lancaster, who was sitting on the left of Leo, said with a sad face

"They will be proud of you, old fellow, don't forget what our family has achieved today's status back then, your territory is okay, at least it took more than half a year to resist before giving up, just for this, no one can blame your family, look at me and Auston two unlucky ghosts...... We're going to give up our domains and castles without even a fight, damn it, I'd rather the first war take place in my castle if we could exchange it, and the sturdy walls of the Hohenzollerns would have cost that Rolf idiot enough as well! ”

The Duke of Lancaster, who was in a bad mood, turned his head and looked disapprovingly at the Marquis of Hohenzollern, who began to talk endlessly, and ...... Auston, who was smiling and watching quietly next to him, muttered a few words in a low voice and said with some disdain

"Come on, old thing, with your fragile castle, not to mention whether it can hold enough supplies and all our troops, it seems to me that even a chaotic army can easily shatter its shell!"

As he spoke, the Duke of Lancaster, who was accustomed to arguing with the Marquis, made a gesture of cracking walnuts with his hands, and then touched his gray beard and said proudly without waiting for the Marquis to refute

"From this point of view, His Royal Highness is still very wise, only the hundred-year-old city of Grey Fort can complete our first plan, don't be jealous of the old thing, this is the foundation of a great family's heritage and survival"

"You ......"

Seeing that the two were about to quarrel again, Leo, who arrived in a hurry with a tired face, hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop the quarrel between them, rubbed his nose, and looked at the duke and the others with some apologies

"Distinguished gentlemen, I am very grateful to each and every one of you for your dedication and for all the sacrifices you have made for me and for the Principality, all of which will be adequately compensated after the victory in the war, for which the city of the Lancasters and the majesty of your family for hundreds of years have been damaged, and of course I will compensate for it with practical actions, and I think that it will not be long before a more magnificent and prosperous city will once again stand in the same place, and at the same time, in my opinion, The Duke's current realm is indeed not worthy of a family with a glorious history......"

After bowing to the Duke of Lancaster, who nodded slightly, Leo's gaze turned to the two Marquis of Hohenzollern and Auston, and he thought for a moment and spoke slowly

"As for you...... My friends, first of all, the Duchy will make full reparations for any damage to your family's territory, and in order to show its unwavering support for you, I can make a promise here that from the end of the war, any Stormwind specialties purchased by the caravans of the three families will be exempt from taxes......"

After a pause, Leo smiled and looked at the few people who had obviously diverted their attention, and once again weighted the weight with a sentence

"Including weapons, armor, ......"

"Whew~!"

After hearing Leo's words, not only the three Duke of Lancaster showed surprise on their faces, but even the nobles of the other surrounding principalities and the vassal nobles of the three families couldn't help but ask one after another regardless of their identities at this moment, you must know that Stormwind City has not to mention the most profitable spices, and the most memorable thing is those excellent weapons and armor

Just like the original joke of the Earl of Leicester, that is, everything they are equipped with in the knights under the command of Leo can become a collection in the treasury of some small nobles, not to mention the Knights of Punishment and the Knights of Dawn, which have become famous on the continent, and even the Knights of Dawn, who have just completed the preparation of the Knights of Dawn, in this half-year battle, their luxurious and sturdy armor and extremely sharp weapons have also become the coveted targets of these nobles

Even if such a knight is much more expensive, as long as he can form a team, it is enough to become the capital of these vain nobles who love to show off, they dare not have the luxury of punishing the existence of the knights, but even the most stupid nobles understand what is needed to survive and even survive better in this era......

Seeing this, Leo had to press down with his hands to make the somewhat noisy venue quiet again, clear his throat, his clear and sharp gaze quickly glanced around, and after seeing all the expressions of everyone, he chuckled and spoke

"In this respect, I think that no one should doubt my promise, and that my generosity will be reciprocated to those who have been able to share my hardships, and if you are not yet convinced, I think that all the gentlemen present here may find time to inquire of His Excellency the Earl of Leicester, loyalty! You will get my friendship and reward! ”

"Huh?"

After Leo finished speaking, everyone's eyes were focused on the Earl of Leicester, seeing this, the Count scratched his scalp and stood up, first saluting Leo before saying in a very sincere tone

"Your Highness is right, there should be many people in this who know my previous predicament, when a chaotic army almost broke my castle, or His Highness finally saved my family, from that day on, I became His Highness's most loyal supporter and follower, and now everyone has seen my situation, in addition to money, the Swan family finally has a powerful knight order again with the help of His Highness to guard, here, I hope everyone, especially some people with weak minds, know, Don't lose yourself in greed and cowardice, I always firmly believe that victory will belong to us under the leadership of His Highness, and even if the Crest Swan family fights to me, they will still closely follow the footsteps of His Highness~! ”

"Papa~Papapa~"

Under the leadership of the Duke of Lancaster, the nobles applauded warmly for the speech of the Earl of Leicester, and shook their heads slightly, Leo looked around at a circle of nobles who were all extremely loyal and loyal on the surface, but there was some disdain in his heart, he knew that in addition to some people, there must be some people who were forced to do it under pressure, if the Duchy showed a little decline in the war, I am afraid that many people would also make different choices......

Taking a deep breath to calm his mind, Leo brought back a sincere smile

"That's the end of the chatter for the time being, gentlemen, in order not to make the enemies at the door too anxious, I think we have to discuss the next step......"

(To be continued.) Pen % Fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info)